One of the most beautiful aspects of literature is its ability to assuage loneliness. Read the right book and you feel as if it is speaking right to you. Imagine opening a book and having a hand-made card fall out, one you can keep or share with someone else. How might that turn your day around? You may have to return your library book, but the hand-made card you could keep forever.

My project involves placing hand-made postcards in the front of a wide range of library books in all 27 branches of the Seattle Public Library. These postcards will be unique pieces of art, made by me, and include encouraging phrases, inspiring lines of poetry, and kind words. A stamp is paper clipped to the postcard, so it’s free and easy for the person who finds it to pass it on if they feel led to do so. There will be a web address printed on the back of the card leading to the project site, where they can find information about The Awesome Foundation, upload pictures, and share stories of their experience. The idea is to delight unsuspecting readers, give inspiration, and encourage positive dialogue, while speaking to the magic already implicit in a giant room of free books.

Because I am a student taking minimal hours my first semester, I should have enough free time to create these 800 cards and distribute them. Many of my classmates are excited to help me distribute and document the project in video.