My Library

 

Spending time at home during this period of self quarantine, masks and social distancing, I have been doing a lot of reading. In fact rather than doing the jobs that need done around the house, I tend to find myself getting lost in other worlds, the various worlds inside my books.

                I have been doing a lot of reading on my Kindle. This is mostly because of the ease of getting new books. Unfortunately, the Kindle does not fulfill all of my personal reading requirements. I have a need, a desire, a craving for books that are printed on paper. Hard backs with nice covers or paperbacks with the pages bent from previous readings. I was just thinking yesterday as I read my Kindle, that I never lost my place in a printed book by accidentally swiping my finger across the page! In these trying times, Kindles can easily get on my nerves!

                Call me old fashioned, or afraid of technology, for that matter, call me anything you want. I know what I am. I am a bibliophile! I love books. I love the feel, the smell and the heft of a book.  To be able to page through it and stop at spots that interest me is important, especially when looking to buy a book! I like that I can see how far I’ve progressed by the location of my book mark. I don’t need to rely on a sliding bar or a percentage listed at the bottom of the page.

                Because of this love, I have a nice collection of books that I enjoyed reading. Being a firm believer of libraries, I make use of their marvelous collections and when I find a really good book, I’ll look to buy myself a copy. I pick up a lot of books at estate and garage sales. Bookstores also add a lot of books to my collection.

                The vast majority of my collection are pre-owned editions. They far outnumber my newly purchased books. Needless to say, there are a lot of books in my home. Some of them have been with me for over 6 decades. There are a lot of them that are older than I am, having been printed a half century or more before I arrived on this planet.

                A friend and I were discussing the order we keep our books in. He was thinking about making a list of all his books.  I don’t have a list but I can usually find a book I need within a minute or two. They are ordered in a semi-organized way.

                Let me take you on a brief tour of what I call my Personal Library. Like most libraries there is an assortment of both fiction and non-fiction. I believe the non-fiction slightly outnumbers the fiction in the collection. There is also more than one room in my library, the books are distributed around the house.

                We’ll take a look at what I like to call the reading room. There is a large table sitting in front of two windows giving me a view of the woods behind the house. They also provide light for reading during the daylight hours. The table is large enough to hold my laptop or typewriter and still have lots of space for reference materials.  The table also comes in handy when I am matting or framing pictures. Every library needs a big table.

                Sitting at the table, to the left are shelves filled with books on Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania. The subjects are varied, from early iron furnaces, canals, railroads, atlas’s, travelogues to architecture and sculptures.  Beside this set of shelves is one filled with reference books. Dictionaries, (I love dictionaries!) Thesaurus’s, books on quotations, birds, word origins and other subjects that might help me properly state something or to help me understand things.

                Unlike most of the books in the collection, I can honestly say that none of the books on this shelf has been read through, cover to cover. Almost all of them have been used, many of them numerous times!

                On the other side of the room is a set of shelves holding books about writing. Below them are books on Machining, both old and new. I have books about machinery powered by belts up to modern manufacturing procedures. Below that is a shelf filled with assorted papers I wrote and photos I took. The majority of these will never be seen by anyone but me. (That and the person who cleans it all up after I pass on to the great library in the sky) Looking at these piles I think that one of the sad things about computers is that the things I write now, are hardly ever printed. It is all saved on a hard drive and memory sticks, susceptible to being wiped out or lost at any time.

                Below this shelf are a couple boxes of photographs waiting to be framed.  Beside them are an assortment of old school books and instruction manuals. From steam locomotive upkeep to geography and mathematics, they are old and interesting to page through. I love to see how things used to be and how some things never change!

                Beside this shelf is a smaller one containing mostly poetry.  These shelves I’m happy to say, are all in alphabetical order by authors name.  I can’t say that about any of the others!

                Behind me is another shelf which has on top of it, one of my “To read” piles. The height of the pile varies but recently it has been dropping since no new books are coming in. Whenever I finish a book from one of these piles, it gets put on a proper shelf or in a box for donation to a library for their book sales.

                The top shelf has books on architecture and archeology with a few books on exploring tossed in. Below them are books on maps and books that have maps in them. ( Treasure Island for example ) There are also a collection of atlas’s covering the earth, space and even the human body. Some writing materials for letters and cards populate the shelf below along with some overflow books. Below them are some oversized books.

               This is just one room. Books on books, travel, astronomy, religion, camping, hiking, cooking and fiction are spread out though other rooms.  There is a shelf of signed books and a collection of my first blog. (The only printed copy! Oh, this will be worth a fortune some day!  HA)

                The room I described to you is just a part of my library. As you can see, I live in my library! My love of books could be considered by some as an excess, but as any bibliophile knows, there can never be too many!

                I do periodically clean out the collection, passing the unwanted or unneeded volumes on to a library for them to re-sell during their book sales. I am anxiously waiting for the re-opening of the libraries and bookstores. I am not a big fan of on-line book shopping, too much of my buying experience involves touch and browsing. The act of browsing is exciting, I never know what might show up. I never know when that special book will jump out into my hands!

                We just went from Red to Yellow conditions here in Alleghany County. I’ve got my fingers crossed that some of the bookstores will be re-opening. I have a strong desire to acquire some new books!

                In the meanwhile, I have recently started a new book. It is a hardback with a nice cover, titled "The Years Best Fantasy and Horror". (from 1995) Hopefully this should keep me occupied for a couple days.

                Oh yeah, I almost forget about those chores that need done…