The Book Thing (TBT) formally announced it has hired Brian Dulay as its executive director, a position that has been vacant since 2019. While the official announcement came earlier this month, Dulay joined TBT in late June half-time and is busy learning all about the job and organization.
Located at 3001 Vineyard Lane in Charles Village, just east of Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus, The Book Thing’s mission is to “put unwanted books into the hands of those who want them, for free.” A volunteer-run used book “store,” or exchange, really, TBT is open to the public just once a month. (The next two Giveaway Days are on Saturday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Dec. 13.) All books are stamped with “Not for Resale,” which they ask all patrons to honor.
Dulay is no stranger to TBT, or to non-profit work and education. He spent close to 10 years as the executive director of the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education. Before that, he worked for seven years in grant administration and assistance to low-income students at the Maryland State Department of Education. Dulay has volunteered in the Peace Corps, taught in Baltimore City’s public schools and at Johns Hopkins University, all of it contributing to a 30+ year background in non-profit management and education.
“We can’t overstate how thrilled we are to be taking this huge step forward,” read TBT’s official announcement. “The ED position at TBT had been vacant since 2019 due to budgetary constraints. It has taken several years of rebuilding and fundraising to reach our goal of supporting an executive director. After a thorough search process, we are delighted to have recruited Brian to this critical role. We could not have done it without the financial support of our many donors, so we thank you for helping us grow.”
While The Book Thing pays appropriate respect and gratitude to its donors to help generate the funds to hire executive director, Dulay gave special credit to one volunteer for the organization’s success.
“Jessica Lawson has been in an undefined, interim executive director role. She did that on a volunteer basis for quite a number of years, and that history predates me, so I don’t speak to it much,” Dulay told Baltimore Fishbowl. “Jess is still involved and is very much onboarding me. She’s critical to our success and has been critical to my transition.”
The Book Thing has a database of about 180 volunteers, and during public-facing events and giveaway days, roughly 40 of them are on hand to help. While normally TBT is open once a month, this year Dulay said during two of the months they managed two openings, so for calendar year 2026 it will be open 14 times. He said opening more frequently is a primary goal for 2027, but the proposition is not easy to accomplish.
“There are three elements,” Dulay said. “First is the books being donated. On an open giveaway day, 15,000 books can be donated. Second, it’s not uncommon to have 1,000 patrons come through the doors…. Third are the volunteers who pull it all together, a dedicated group who know how to make this work. If you alter any of those three pieces, we’re not sure what happens.”
Two of those three pieces are unpredictable: how many people drop off books and patron demand. The one predictable element, the dedicated roster of volunteers, must be deployed based on the first two, which are subject to change based on things like weather, time of year, other events happening that weekend, and more.
Volunteers at TBT play primarily logistical role. Dulay estimates they have 80,000 books on their shelves at any time, with inventory going up and down. Before they reach the shelves, however, volunteers go through the multi-step process of sorting the books, counting them, stamping them “Not for Resale,” then shelving them by genre and category. Volunteers also interact with the patrons, greeting them and helping coordinate entry, since there is a limit to how many can enter at the same time.
“These are often well-informed folks who know their books and authors and what people might be interested in,” Dulay said. “We also get a great cross section: young and old, mostly local, some with longer commutes, some who work nearby, some who walk. It’s luck on our part, but we have people who understand the religious sections, historians, and people who speak different languages, which helps them answer questions and address issues.”
Then, of course, there is Eleanor.
“Eleanor is certainly the supervisor of all things Book Thing,” Dulay said with reverence for The Book Thing’s resident feline. “She has a cat’s personality. She can sit on your lap and you’re pretty sure you’ve been approved and are part of the inner circle, and then she ignores you in the same breath. No one’s sure of her age, but we think she’s at least 10, and she’s there all the time.”
Dulay reports that Eleanor can stay there overnight, or she has gone home with staff or volunteers as circumstances dictate. She loves being photographed and definitely knows when someone is taking her picture.
“She’s very photogenic,” Dulay said. “She’s all in on the social media presence.”
No one agrees on what her favorite reading materials are, because she wanders too much. He did, however, confirm that Eleanor does sit or lie down on top of whatever newspaper or book people are trying to read.
“She not only does that, she sometimes goes and finds them herself,” Dulay said. “We wonder if she has some all-knowing sense of what’s popular. You’ll find her on top of a stack of books She’s also our exterminator, so it’s the cleanest warehouse you’ll ever see.”
While Eleanor’s impact is undeniable, Dulay emphasized TBT’s appreciation for the philanthropic community that supports it. There is so much gratitude for the like-minded people and organizations in the metro area whose monetary donations make The Book Thing’s work possible.
“The books are free, and the staff and labor are mostly free, though we have a few paid part-time staff,” Dulay said. “[But] you still have to pay an electric bill and buy supplies. It takes funding to make a nonprofit work.”
Most of TBT’s funders are local, but they do have one very famous fan in Kelly Clarkson. In March 2026, Clarkson had two of the organization’s volunteers on her show via video to talk about The Book Thing, and at the end of the segment, she announced a donation of $1,000 to the organization.
