A Summer Freethought Library Update

A truly awesome selection of books from FFRF!

It's been nearly a year since the Freethought Library project began, and our progress is officially too great to put on the timeline graphic without, as Franklin keeps warning me, crossing the line into longest picture on the internet territory. Anyway, the length of the cutesy graphic is just one indicator of how far we've come. Here's a better one: We're almost to a hundred books! We have many, many people to thank as we near this milestone, but most recently the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, ISSA's founder/archduke Chris Calvey, and U of I alum (and former ISSA officer) Karthik Manamcheri. This has been a particularly awesome round of donations, and it seems that our collection is not just getting bigger by the day -- it's getting better, too.

That said, a year of hard work (and superb results like these) warrants a little reflection. Over the course of the last two semesters, we've managed to compile a massive collection of texts related to non-religion, philosophy, skepticism, science, etc, with the enduring goal of keeping our own informed, thoughtful and articulate. The response from our membership has been overwhelmingly positive and, from the very beginning, we’ve had a significant portion of our collection checked out at any given moment.

...And a whole bunch of goodies from RDFRS!

While other groups have certainly had similar projects in the past, we’re fairly confident that none have rivaled the size and level of professionalism of ours. All books include library pockets and cards with a stamp bearing the name of our group, the library, and our contact info in the event that the book is lost. Hardcover books have mylar covers -- just like at a real library! -- to ensure that the dust jackets are not lost or damaged, and the collection is managed via two Googledocs, one public and one private. Members can reserve a book via the public Googedoc, and I then bring that book to the next meeting. Return is arranged privately.

The distinct character of the collection is also worth mentioning. A significant portion of our books include signatures of and messages from the authors themselves, many of which we’ve procured at conferences. These inscriptions inspire our members and make the collection uniquely ours.

This one made me blush... :)

But collection development is only part of the story. We’ve posted frequent updates on our progress here on the blog and promoted the project on Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, allowing us to forge ties with a variety of groups and individuals -- not just from the U.S. but all over the world.

So much awesomeness in one place!

Our wishlist has changed dramatically from the early days of the project -- we've received at least half of the items we've requested, and discovered a few more must-haves along the way! As usual, if you happen to have copies of any of the following books to spare, please consider donating them. Simply email us at illinissa@illinois.edu for more information, or give what you can to the Freethought Library fund by clicking the "donate" button in the upper right hand corner of this page.

Richard Dawkins' A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love
Richard Dawkins' Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder
Richard Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
Frans de Waal's Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved
Bart D. Ehrman's The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings
Timothy Freke's The Jesus Mysteries: Was the Original Jesus a Pagan God?
Richard Elliott Friedman's Who Wrote The Bible?
Sam Harris' The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Christopher Hitchens' The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice
Christopher Hitchens' The Quotable Hitchens: From Alcohol to Zionism
Robert G. Ingersoll's Some Mistakes of Moses
Michael Martin's The Cambridge Companion to Atheism
Michael Onfray's In Defence of Atheism (a.k.a. The Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam)
Bertrand Russell's Religion and Science
Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Victor J. Stenger's The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason
Victor J. Stenger's The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: Why The Universe Is Not Designed For Us

Phil Zuckerman's Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment

I think that just about wraps things up... And so, to everyone who's helped us along the way, we have to say just one more time: We can't thank you guys enough for your ongoing support. Here's to another year and, if we're lucky, another hundred books!

Cheers,
Becca