Shelf Reading

Many people will probably think I am sick for saying this, but I love to shelf read.  For the uninitiated, "shelf reading" is a practice where you go into the stacks, pick a section, and make sure, among other things, everything is on the shelf in the proper order.  It may sound tedious, but it gives you an opportunity to examine the collection for condition, look for duplicate copies that might no longer be necessary, find misplaced items, and if you are like me, revel in the tremendous variety of interests people have.

For me, it is also a time to order my thinking.  Often, if I am stumped, stymied, or frustrated in some endeavor I will leave my office for 45 minutes or an hour and read shelves.  Somehow, helping to put the collection in order helps me put my thoughts in order.  Often, I will discover a solution I had not previously considered while pondering who would possibly be interested in reading something like the Classical influences on European culture, A.D. 1500-1700 : proceedings of an international conference held at King's College, Cambridge, April 1974. Often though I will look at an item's circulation statistics and find, as was the case with this title,  that not only has it been checked out many times, it actually went out in the current year.

These kinds of discoveries are refreshing.  It is good to know, for me at least, that there are people using the library interested in things I find uninteresting, or at least not at the top of my reading list.  The flip-side of shelf reading is occasionally finding the most embarrassing oversight sitting there on the shelf.  I'm talking about this book, or this one here, or how about this?  All of these examples come from a blog I find extremely entertaining, called Awful Library Books (it's also linked over there on the sidebar).  Unfortunately, I am sure the Hutchinson Public Library has a few of these types of "gems".

I suppose my point here is that libraries are unique creatures, seemingly always threatened with extinction (at least for the past 2 decades), but filled with an amazing array of information.  Despite my (some might say "unnatural") love for technology, I think the printed store of knowledge known as a library has one great advantage over the impersonal and intangible Web - the thrill of a discovery you found on your own two feet and can hold in your hand.  So, if you can't find me in my office, try roaming through the stacks and you'll probably find me out there, being amazed.