We have a lot of books in our home. There are 11 bookcases scattered through different rooms. It would take us another lifetime to read them all. One way we are able to save shelf space and be a little less book cluttered, is to donate books for the library sale. They have the sale twice a year and I’ve taken bags of books the last few months for their spring sale, which happens to be this week. Members only go Thursday night, and then the sale goes each day until Sunday afternoon, when you can fill a bag for next to nothing.
I always look forward to it, usually going back two or three times and filling a bag or two. It’s a major reason why we have so many bookcases in our house! Besides, these books are purchased, there is no time limit on when they have to be returned. You may find adequate reading till the next library sale. How can you go wrong: two bucks for a hardcover and a buck for a paperback!
I’ve been known to buy back a book I donated. Although in earlier years I would always write my name in the front cover, I don’t do that anymore. I think it spoils the idea of the book as something to be passed on. I don’t like the way a library will stamp their ownership in books either. I have some inner resistance to purchasing those books at the sale.
Books are to be shared, and I try to do that. When friends come over, I will often invite them to check out a bookcase and see if there are any titles that attract them. If so, they are free to take that book. Friends respond in different ways. One friend always refuses. It’s become a joke when I offer, which I almost always do, just for the laughs. Another friend, who I only see once a decade, helped himself to a pile of books.
As I write this, I’m glancing to my right at a bookcase filled with different titles. The top shelf is my shelf on Gandhi and nonviolence. There are two volumes of “Mahatma Gandhi” published by the Navajivan Publishing House in Ahmedabad, India. Or there is “Gandhi as a Political Strategist” by Gene Sharp, plus three volumes of Sharps’ writings on nonviolence.
The second shelf is more eclectic. There is an “Oxford Dictionary of World Religions” as well as “The World Is My Home” by James Michener. Or there is “Stealing Jesus” by Bruce Bawer or “Peace Agitator” by A.J. Muste.
And the third shelf is mainly poetry. But there are also several volumes of women writers, writing about issues of particular concern to women. For instance, there is “The Woman’s Bible.” This is the work of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a committee of the Seattle Task Force on Women and Religion. And there is the “Womens’ Bible Commentary,” and “Women and Religion: A Feminist Sourcebook of Christian Thought.”
This is not the “giveaway” bookcase. It’s more of a reference source for thinking and writing. It will probably survive relatively intact as long as I do.
That brings me to puzzles. There is always a puzzle in process on the table in our living room. It’s a leftover from the pandemic days when we all felt more confined to our homes. The library has been our destination when we finish one. They always have a puzzle table during their sale, and of course, we always check that table out too. In earlier years, we discovered we were bringing home puzzles we had already done and donated. So now they bear a small mark when we donate them, that will help us recognize our own donation.
I’m puzzled about the future of books and libraries. It seems young people (and older people too), do everything with their phones, including reading books. Watching college age folks at the SDSU Wellness Center exercise, it’s amazing how many walk the treadmill or do any number of other machines with their phone in hand. I was shocked the other day as I got on a treadmill, to find a student next to me reading a book as she walked, and then typing notes on her computer. It was so shocking and unusual to me, I had to complement her on her diligence and bookwork.
Suffice it to say, make your way to the library this week. You may be surprised to find that author or title you’ve thought about getting for a long time. Maybe I’ll see you there.
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