The creative writing students in professor Donna Steiner’s "Literary Citizenship" course are hosting a “cash mob” at the River’s End Bookstore from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4. Students in this course work on projects that help local writing communities, and they decided to hold a cash mob because of the symbiotic relationship between writers and booksellers.
“One example of how writers and booksellers work together: students had a project to write professional-quality book reviews,” Steiner said. “I sent them to River’s End to select their books, and many of them received recommendations for specific books from the staff at the bookstore. Of course they could have chosen a book on their own. But that ‘personal touch’ really mattered to a lot of them.”
Because writers and bookstores work hand-in-hand, these students want to support the bookstore as much as they can. So they are inviting everyone -- students, faculty, staff, family, all Oswegonians -- to stop by the bookstore for the cash mob. Cash mobs evolved as a concept out of flash mobs -- where lots of people all together at one time in one place for a planned activity -- with cash mobs aiming to let participants have fun while spending a few dollars.
"It’s a wonderful community event, a great way for students and townspeople to mingle and a way to support a valued local business," Steiner noted.