The
POWER of
books Camden County Pop Up Library brings free books to those who need them BY RYAN LAWRENCE
O
n Tuesday mornings, Haddon Township’s Tom Martin unloads a couple of folding tables from his car, spreads them out along the sidewalk at 5th and Market in Camden, and covers them with hundreds of books. There are non-fiction, spiritual and selfhelp titles. There’s an entire table dedicated to the public’s favorite in the reading frenzy he’s helped create in the city: fiction and murder mysteries. Oh, and they’re all free. “I have a sign out there – people don’t always see it – but when you tell them, ‘Hey, the books are free,’ it’s a left-angle, rightangle turn,” Martin said, adding a cartoonsound for effect. “It’s just, ZVOOOP!” And often people who don’t know one please see LIBRARY, page 8 Photos by Jamie Giambrone/08108
SUMMER 2021
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Pre-K teacher Amy Hoffman, school nurse Stephanie Tracy and Interim Principal Doug Newman keep the Thomas Sharp School Book Ark filled with fresh reading material in Collingswood. Top: Eddie King, a leasing agent, adds books to the Parkview at Collingswood Book Ark. Above: Julie Beddingfield, owner of Inkwood Books in Haddonfield, sets up the Camden County Pop Up Library at the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden City. 08108
