Kat with a K: What is it about library books?

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January 05, 2005

What is it about library books?

Bas Bleu

My apartment is full of books. There are . . . oh, I don't even know. Thousands, I'm sure. I have three big six-foot bookcases that are all stuffed, and various other stacks of books around. Most of them I have not yet read. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, that I own and want to read. There are dozens that I am currently excited about reading.

Last night I went to the library and checked out three books.

It's an addiction, I tell you. (As addictions go, of course, it could be much worse.) There is just something about library books. They have some mystical quality that books I own just don't have. I was pretty proud of myself for getting out of there with just three, actually. They were all hardcovers and fairly heavy, and I didn't have a bag with me, so that was about all I could carry comfortably. There's even a chance that I'll be able to read them all before they're due, I suppose, but I doubt it. Online renewal is my friend.

I guess it's a good thing that I'm going to be a librarian. I'll be able to work and feed my addiction at the same time. There will have to be rules, though. When I've worked in libraries before, I've ended up with dozens of books checked out, and just no time to read them. I'm trying to convince myself that it will be even more fun if I actually read the books. We'll see. I must admit I have my doubts. And now I have some reading to do.

Posted by Kat at January 5, 2005 10:18 PM

Comments

You are going to be a librarian? What courses are you taking toward that, and what school are you attending, just out of curiosity? Well, not QUITE -- I am interested in becoming a librarian once I'm done homeschooling my kids, and I wanted to start work on my degree at night school within the next couple of years. So I'm interested. :)

Posted by: Rachel at January 7, 2005 01:36 AM

I have the same book addiction, same 3 6-foot shelves overflowing, books from when i was 7 years old... I read mine in 2 hours on the subway each day. Hint: don't buy books you can get at the library! Then buy used ones as cheaply as possible...

Try to keep to a theme. Then, you can quickly scan a book to see if there is something that enhances your theme and make it worth reading.
Take notes on your books, either online or on 3x5 cards, in case you ever need to look at them again... this makes it easier to give them up when you run out of space.

Did you see the New York Times article in the last couple of years that showed people sleeping on books because their apartments were so full of them??

Posted by: Joan at January 11, 2005 02:35 PM

I think the same about library books. There's a quality to them that's different from the ones I own. I imagine and wonder about the people who checked out the book before me; what drew them to that book. If it's a self-help type of book, I wonder what course of events in their lives led them to seek help from this book....that kind of stuff. I go to the library all the time, and often end up checking out more books than I'm able to read at one time. I also want to be a librarian (academic), so I figure that it doesn't hurt to be a frequent and avid library user.

Posted by: Melissa at March 20, 2005 11:45 PM