Perfect Little Shrines to the Human Spirit

I had a friend once who told me he didn't read for fun because he read at work all day. Not surprisingly, he had not one book in his house. What he was doing was processing information among work colleagues. Schedules, reports and manuals are not read, they are consumed. The information may be critical, but it is ephemeral.

Books can be also be on ephemeral topics, but they last on bookshelves in a way that no one ever preserved a delivery schedule.

Another friend recently shared a copy of a speech by Salt Lake City bookseller Tony Weller. Why Books are Precious. Interestingly, it was this speech that inspired me to proudly claim my dinosaur-hood in this blog. The speech, and the way I found it. As you'll deduce from the linkage, it is published online. However, my friend printed it out, and handed the copy around to people with whom she knew it would resonate. She didn't tell me not to copy it, but I could tell that to photocopy it would destroy something that it contained. So I started reading.

Surviving Amazon

A few weeks ago, I put the word out to my travel buddies asking for names of not-to-be-missed independent bookstores in their hometowns, or wherever they have traveled. I received a few suggestions, mostly from the western U.S. and most of those well-known, i.e. Powell's in Portland, Oregon. In the category of there are no new ideas, at about the same time, a friend sent me a link to a survey by CNN of the world's coolest bookstores. On the CNN list is, of course, Powell's in Portland. And many more, in places I would not have thought. The story of how and why some brick and mortar stores continue to exist and are thriving, is an interesting read, too.

In the meantime, I did find one on my own--in Pendelton, Oregon. I especially liked the neon...

Must Buy Book

I saw this today on Twitter (it's job thing). Courtesy of Kepler's Books @keplers and captioned with the note "I didn't know I needed this--until I saw it." It reminded me of an important lesson I learned when I downsized and moved last summer. Books are keepers. I had little trouble selling furniture, tossing boxes of "mementoes," streamlining my wardrobe. But getting rid of books was a challenge. Even ones I hadn't touched in years. Each held a certain place in my life. Together they show growth, or lack thereof. Assembled in cases, they take up an entire wall in my wee condo. But it is the anchor of my home and, I believe, my soul. Every book I gave away went to a used bookstore, safe in the knowledge that it would likely end up in someone else's hands and home for some time.

I hope it goes without saying -- if you, another Print Dinosaur, have made it this far -- we have a responsibility to keep purveyors of books in business. So when not if you need to buy a book (and we now know that you're mistaken if you don't), go to your local independent bookseller.

Duty to Encourage the Bookish

I love the idea of the "Free Little Library" so much, I started to make my own. Had the lumber (recycled from my dead wooden garage door), hardware and of course Books! The spot was perfect: in the front yard--on a walkable urban street frequented by walkers, runners, strollers and kids, under a major pine tree, with a natty bench beside. But then I moved. To a condo.

But thankfully, kids like Spencer Collins, age 9, from Leawood, Kansas, also see the beauty and wisdom of encouraging the habit, skill and love of reading books. He built his with his grandfather for a Mother's Day present (double points). But then, the city (egged on by cranky neighbors worried about "property values") said cease and desist with the unpermitted permanent structure in the yard. After a national hue and cry, the city is trying to find a way. To let a 9 year old foster his love of reading by making it easy for passersby to "take a book, leave a book." You can read more about it here: Spencer and His Free Library.

The major point is: reading is life. Encouraging reading is a gift, not an eyesore. In fact, the story has inspired me to revisit my idea of a "Free Little Library" in my condo. Because reading doesn't stop when you give up the yard.