One more week of work left.
As I walked by the library today, there was a shelf outside. It was full of books with a note saying "free". Turns out our librarian is emptying the shelves of book students don't check out so she can have more room for new books.
There were a couple dozen Clive Cussler novels, both paperback and hardcover. That pained me, as I already have about a shelf and a half here at home full of Clive Cussler novels--the original Dirk Pitt series, and the current Oregon Files series. I've paid so much money, and gotten so much enjoyment out of those books, and there they are at school, being given away because no one wants to check them out.
I'm going to have some reading time this summer. In a couple weeks I plan on being around a pool in Cancun--and I'll need some reading material. A month after that I'll be on a cruise in Europe, and for our non-port days I'll need some poolside reading material. So I picked up 5 paperbacks--two science fiction books, and three Clancy-type military thrillers.
Being a slow reader, I'll probably not get through all 5 of those during my Cancun and cruise trips, but that's OK. Better to have too much reading material than not enough.
I'm a big fan of Audible, but if I lie down by a pool and expect to stay awake while someone reads me a story, no matter how interesting that story is, well, I know that just isn't in the cards.
I am not sure about California, but in Texas our librarians get marked down in evaluations if their libraries average out as "too old." Consequently many excellent older books have been shipped back to the warehouse for batch selling to Half Price Books or others. What's ironic is that many times, due to teacher requests, the librarian has to turn around and order a newer edition of the same book, even if the previous edition is in good shape. I'm sure there's a reason for this, but I'm not sure what that would be. While science, math and history can change, Shakespeare and Whitman are eternal.
ReplyDeleteYou need a shelf for Isaac Bell.
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet gotten into the Isaac Bell series, although I do have one paperback that I *still* haven't read.
ReplyDeleteI *love* the Oregon Files.