Adventures in Placing The Urantia Book

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By Share Beasley, Associate Trustee, Urantia Foundation, Brandon, Florida, USA

How has finding The Urantia Book affected you? How has it affected those around you? Are you a better person? If so, you are changing the world one person at a time, beginning with yourself. 

Are you interested in making the Urantia Revelation more accessible?

Let the brainstorming begin! I am interested in your ideas as well as sharing some of my own.

Ideas

1. Donate books to libraries in hotels, on cruise ships, and in other places people may have time to browse. What are some of these other places?
2. Donate Urantia Books with older covers to Goodwill and the Salvation Army, or trade them at second-hand bookstores.
3. Sell books with the new Tree or World cover to used bookstores for $5. This would amount to a personal donation by subsidizing the cost difference. How many books can each of us afford to subsidize annually? What would we be giving up to do so?
4. Now is a good time to buy discounted books, which are on sale during December. For details, visit https://www.urantia.org/news/2013-11/urantia-book-holiday-sale.

Recently, I spent some time placing books in Miami, and I offer my experiences in hope of stimulating more ideas:

Miami Area Used Bookstores

On my first visit to a used bookstore in Miami, I learned that the store owners neither buy books nor take consignments. They do, however, give a discount on your purchase if you trade-in books.

On my second visit, I learned to call a bookstore first to make sure it is still in business and to learn when it is open. This lesson I learned the hard way: I found the bookstore online, it took a while to drive to it, I paid to park, and then I walked a long way to get to it only to discover that the bookstore had gone out of business.

The perfect store, I thought, specialized in books on geology, biochemistry, astronomy, anthropology, physics, history, and religion. I thought they would be delighted to add The Urantia Book to their offerings. A perfect fit! At first glance I was right. The owner took the book, looked at it with apparent interest, and then scanned the table of contents. When she got to Part IV, WHAM, she flung The Urantia Book back and delivered herself of a two-word expletive with “Jesus” as the first word. This woman does not yet know the Master, and with obvious pride she announced, “I am a Buddhist.” She then proceeded to give me a “bad Christians” sermon and hatefully repeated, “GET OUT.” Hmmm, she claimed to be a Buddhist. What a reminder that we represent our personal religion in everything we do!

A friendly, professional, reader’s paradise was next; a huge store with a café, collectables, art, and new and used books. They host author presentations, which are videotaped for online viewing at the bookstore’s website. Dancing in my head were thoughts of professionals in our community giving an overview of The Urantia Book here. This was by far the most progressive and intriguing bookstore I had visited. Upon inquiring, I found that they have ordered The Urantia Book from the Foundation in the past and will continue to do so, but they are not interested in stocking the book. I left a Foundation contact card just to give them a second opportunity to think about it. I wonder how they would react to an offer to give a presentation.

The last bookstore that I visited was a store in a mall where they sold antiques and used books. They were not willing to purchase a book outright but gave me $7.50 for trading in two books that I purchased.

Donated Books

• At Marriott’s Villas, I went into the recreation room and placed a book on a lending bookshelf. It stood out and looked inviting next to other beat-up, dog-eared paperbacks.
• At a Hyatt and at a Trump golf resort there was no lending library.

Cruise Ships

• Holland America had locked glass shelves with a librarian to whom I presented the book. The next day it was on the shelf in the glass case. This was repeated on two different ships.
• Royal Caribbean has open bookshelves; it felt good to just place the book there myself.
• RV Resort Community Room in Tennessee; I placed The Urantia Book on the shelf.

Public Libraries

Costa Maya Library; the librarian appreciatively accepted a Spanish translation. The library was difficult to find but perseverance paid off. I wonder how many souls it will eventually touch.

Tampa Area Local Libraries:

• Three libraries declined due to space limitations.
• Two declined due to the wariness of the Christian librarians.
• Three accepted! “The act is ours; the consequences God’s.”

I ponder the exponential effects that The Urantia Book has had on my life and have an idea of what my life would have been like without it. I always have a spare Urantia Book with me, as I never know when the opportunity to impact a life may arise…and it does.

Do you have a burning desire to share the teachings of the Urantia Revelation? I invite you to participate in this passionate adventure with me. Do you have ideas or experiences or both which will assist in perfecting and expanding our approach to the placement or sale of The Urantia Book?

Share your experiences and ideas: [email protected]