On a recent cold weekend I slipped into a Friend’s of the Library book sale almost surreptitiously. When I first became a librarian I thought that being surrounded by books at work would slake my fierce bibliophile appetite. Clearly, I underestimated the depth of my passion. Thirty years later I still bring armloads of library books home, buy second hand books, order still more off of Amazon, and shop the discounted books at Barnes and Noble. I pile books up by my end of the couch, the bed, tuck a bookcase in almost every room, and keep a spare one in the car.
I am comforted by their presence, like silent friends that ward away loneliness, boredom, and ennui. I am compelled to stockpile unread volumes, like people hoard food or money, in case of an emergency, when one could suddenly be deprived of fresh reading material.
Years ago my husband and I were travelling in Mexico and forgot to bring along reading materials. We were desperate for something to read in English. We read the back of the toothpaste, an aspirin bottle, a brochure; anything and everything we could find. It was like being deprived of brain oxygen. Never again!
A leisurely perusal of the book sale yielded up some treasures. A copy of Answered Prayers by Truman Capote, a book I have always intended to read. Another classic title, Virginius Dabney’s Virginia: Writings about the Old Dominion. I wonder idly if Virginius’s mother somehow ordained his destiny by her baby name selection. The Backyard Bird Watcher by George Harrison, the birder not the Beatle. A slender volume entitled Favorite Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Later that evening I dabble like a literary dilettante in my pile. Read a stray poem to my tolerant husband, stare at photos of bird stations, and glance through Tom Wolf’s introduction to what he terms the “epitome of the species Virginius” Dabney. Alternately, I read e-mail, check the weather, and peruse The New York Times on my iPhone.
When I talk to non-library users they always sound surprised that people are still using the library, as if Google and Amazon should have rendered the institution obsolete. The truth is that libraries are busier than ever. Last year more books were checked out per capita than any year since the Great Depression. Even before the recession the library business was booming. We are living in a remarkable time in history, a great information renaissance with access to breathtaking amounts of knowledge and data, and the unprecedented opportunity to exchange ideas and create new knowledge with people worldwide. Books, television, movies, databases, web resources, audio books; they are all part of the great life of the mind, and each format stimulates, compliments, and deepens our interest and understanding of the world. Perhaps Emily said it the best:
“The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.”
