Street Books

At Street Books we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. We believe in knowing one another's names and cultivating conversations about books. Our patrons make up one of the most diverse populations in Portland, and they live on the streets. Whether an individual is struggling with mental health or is limited by a physical disability, whether they are an immigrant who doesn't speak English or a person whose earthly possessions fit into a shopping cart, they are welcome at the street library. We have checked out books to people recently released from prison, and have offered books by Dave Dahl, Piper Kerman and Jason Breedlove describing their own experiences being incarcerated. We have checked self-help titles to teenagers, and meditation books to people with violent felonies on their records. We have delivered books to women of color including Nikki Giovanni poetry, Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko and Claudia Rankine's book, Citizen. This summer we delivered a Spanish copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass to Alejandro at the Workers' Center and filled many other requests there. We have ensured that our patrons have access to a range of diverse authors whose voices and experiences might reflect some of the truths our patrons know. Our patrons are a good example of an underrepresented and underserved population in our city, and after 10 years in operation, we have learned that access to literature and friendly conversation can create a community out of the most disenfranchised group of people, and we have been privileged to observe close-up the way people take care of one another.