20 Days Left

A month ago I began my Library Campaign with high hopes.  In that month, those hopes have begun to sour.  True, there is still 20 days left - the campaign runs through August, but if the next twenty days are indicative of the past month, it will end with disappointment.

The whole focus behind the campaign from the very beginning has been to donate a healthy portion of digital book profits to a local area library (50%) that needs close to $2mil in order to begin construction on a new building that is needed in order to meet the changing times and technology.

From the very first day, I had hopes that the campaign would be a success.  I was sure that the support would be there.  I posted about it on my Facebook Author page, my personal Facebook page, and took to Twitter, where most of my focus was aimed, since Twitter has the potential to reach an unbelievable amount of people.

The catch with Twitter is that people have to respond.  They have to retweet in order to help spread the word.  Such a simple thing to do, nothing to lose and so much to gain for the library.

But the hard truth is that as simple as it is, only a few people have stepped forward and supported with retweets.  One person more than anyone else.  One.  Among how many?

'Why retweet?  There's nothing in it for me.' 'I don't have the time.'  'Someone else will do it.'  'I'm not interested.'  This is the general feeling I've gotten from the Twitter community.  And if I sound harsh, it's because I guess I had high expectations.

I thought others would feel as strongly about helping a community, doing something worthwhile.  I've been disappointed, and feel like there's more selfishness than selflessness in the world.  Part of the reason for the campaign was not just to help the library, but to turn heads and show the world that with all the bad that goes on, we are still capable of doing something great - together.

The pyramids weren't built by a handful of people.  Neither was the Great Wall of China.  These are extraordinary examples of what we can accomplish together.  Each person doing a small, seemingly insignificant part of the greater picture, but each one as important as the next person.

We are surrounded day in and day out by negativity, yet every day there are sparks of kindness throughout the world that are done.  And though these small acts of kindness are rarely seen by the masses, they are remembered forever by those that were affected by them.

Buildings are built every day, but for the most part they are funded by a company, or perhaps a small group.  That's why I had such high hopes for this campaign.  It went against the grain.  The funds would come not from a company or a small group of people, but by the masses that pulled together, each doing a small part.  Together, those small parts would add up to something extraordinary.  A single building that not only was funded by a mass of people, which in itself is an amazing accomplishment, but a building that would be a place for generations of children and adults to come to - to study, to read, to learn... to grow.

And maybe a part of this campaign could be looked at as a social experiment as well.  An experiment in humanity.  Do we exist for ourselves, concerned only with what we can get?  Or when an opportunity passes our way, do we seize the moment and do something that will benefits others?  The answer to that as I write this, is the former.

But we still have time.  Time to make a difference.  Time to do something extraordinary.  In all honesty, last month I thought that together we could hit that mark, that seemingly impossible amount of money needed yet for the library.  Do I think so now?  That would take a miracle, like winning the lottery.  It's possible, but sadly, I don't think practical.  It would take millions of people who truly care about making a difference as much as I do.

Is that harsh?  No.  It's hard truth.  We're all so used to the negativity that bombards us every day, that when something good and decent and worthwhile comes along, we're blinded to it for the most part.  Or we don't care, because there's nothing in it for us.

So, we have 20 days left.  20 days where we can still make a difference.  The opportunity is slipping through our fingers, but it's not quite out of reach.  We can still make a difference.  But it takes effort.  It takes people caring enough to take a few seconds to retweet, and pass the message on to their followers, who can pass it on to their followers, and so on.

And obviously, the retweets are not what increases that donation amount, but the digital book sales.  But the retweets gets the message out there.  It gets it to those who will choose to help do their own small part, either with their own retweet or perhaps picking up one or more of the digital books.

So we have 20 days.  If you want to help with a retweet, please follow me on Twitter @ScotttBorgman and retweet any of my tweets that deal with the library campaign or link to my blog.  If you choose to help increase that donation amount, all of my digital books are available on Amazon (5 in all, ranging from $2.99 - $3.99.)

How this campaign ends, ultimately, is up to each one of us.  The opportunity to do something extraordinary is there, but it's fading fast.  Seize it, or let it slip away?  Let it slip away, and it will be forgotten in a matter of days.  Seize it, and what was done will be long remembered.