Book Distribution in Taiwan
As we looked down the list of all the libraries in Pretoria South Africa, one stood out: the Winterveld library. This was the only library that had no phone number. Not knowing how to contact Winterveld, we called the head office of the Community Libraries of Pretoria and asked if they had a phone number or a physical address. But they said they had no contact information for this library and they'd never communicated with them! That was quite strange. To top it off, all Google searches for Winterveld library in Pretoria also proved fruitless. This left us a little disappointed. How would we get Srila Prabhupada's books to this library? Sadly, we reconciled ourselves to the likelihood that maybe we wouldn't be the ones to introduce Srila Prabhupada's books to Winterveld library. Maybe in the future devotees would be able to find the library and give them books. So, resigning ourselves to helplessness, we left Winterveld off our list.
A while later we were delivering Srila Prabhupada's books to the few libraries in Soshanguve, the northernmost part of the city. Somehow, by the Lord's arrangement we had an extra set of books with us from the previous delivery. After reaching the last library on our route, we handed over Srila Prabhupada's books and the librarian thanked us kindly. She asked, "Have you given books to the Winterveld library?" We were thrilled to hear her utter the name of this elusive library! We explained our struggle to contact this library and said we would love to give books to the Winterveld library. In fact, we told her, we happened to have an extra set with us. The librarian immediately volunteered to take us to the Winterveld library, almost half an hour's drive further north.
Winterveld turned out to be a rundown suburb far from the city. The library had recently been built to aid the community but was struggling financially. The Winterveld librarian was really surprised to see the set of brand-new books we donated to her library. She also explained why they have no telephone number. "It's the crime," she said. "Criminals often break into the library and steal whatever they can get their hands on: petty things like stationery or a telephone handset. That's why we have no telephone or other electronic communication with the world. Last time they broke in, they saw nothing of value so they stole the flushing mechanism of the toilet!"
"Wow," I exclaimed, "at least they didn't steal the books!"
The library did have a few serious people, including schoolchildren, reading its limited selection of books. With Srila Prabhupada's books now occupying a prominent place on the bookshelves of the library at Winterveld, surely devotees will be made there in the very near future. Srila Prabhupada's mercy is truly available for ALL.
