For a long time now I have decried the fact that more and more people buy books these days rather than borrow them from the library. Now, of course, this is a very unscientific and subjective idea, but just pop into any large store which carries books at discounted prices (ie. Costco) and watch the people crowded around the book aisle.
As a bibliophile almost since birth, it pleases me no end that society is still reading actual paper books (given all the electronic devises at our disposal). Plus, I'm sure authors and publishers are happy since it helps their bottom line (although not much at Costco prices), but that begs the question: Who Uses the Library?
I have three University-educated adult children, two of whom are married to University-educated wives, and not one of these five step foot in a library! (Of course, just because they are 'university educated' doesn't for one minute make them smarter than average - it just makes us as their parents poorer than average! But, since one assumes they were compelled to read books to obtain their various diplomas, one hopes the habit might have continued?) I also have two grandchildren ages 6 and 9 who are able to read in both French and English, and who love their books - but neither are members of their local library. Their books are bought for them either at school from monthly Scholastic flyers (for which their teachers earn enormous numbers of free books for their classroom, which is a good thing) or at Costco and other book stores.
But, think what they are all missing! Libraries are fantastic places, full of millions of opportunities to go to, experience or just escape from anything you desire! Just entering one excites me like nothing else can - truly! I can cheerfully while away hours and hours just perusing the stacks of possibilities at my disposal, and leave, my arms overflowing with an assorted selection, thrilled to bits in anticipation - and all for FREE!!
So, why would anyone buy a book?
I do have an extensive personal library which I have collected over the years, but they are mostly non-fiction books, which I will refer to and turn back to time and time again. Plus, a number of 'special' well-written fiction pieces which I just had to have in my collection. But, generally, most people only read general fiction books once. So, what happens to all those paper-backs purchased at Costco? Plus, what will happen to libraries when my generation moves on to greener pastures? I dread to think ...
With these thoughts in my head, I was simply delighted recently to discover an adorable book called "The Uncommon Reader" by the well-known British play write Alan Bennett. It's a wonderful little book (only 121 small-sized pages) but every sentence, every word, has a function, is meant to be there and adds to the overall story. Nothing is wasted.
It tells of the Queen, following her yapping corgis one day, coming across the Westminster travelling bookmobile parked near Buckingham Palace. Not wanting to seem rude or give offence, she reluctantly checks out a book. Thus begins her journey as an avid and ecstatic reader. Simple enough story line, but in Bennett's uncommonly capable hands it becomes a witty narrative about the power of reading. In Uncommon Reader Her Majesty's new-found passion distracts her from her 'duties' and worries her equerries to the point where they conspire to bring the Queen's literary odyssey to an end. But, do read to the very last page - Alan Bennett does not disappoint even then ...
As Edward Marriotte of the Observer commented:
As a bibliophile almost since birth, it pleases me no end that society is still reading actual paper books (given all the electronic devises at our disposal). Plus, I'm sure authors and publishers are happy since it helps their bottom line (although not much at Costco prices), but that begs the question: Who Uses the Library?
I have three University-educated adult children, two of whom are married to University-educated wives, and not one of these five step foot in a library! (Of course, just because they are 'university educated' doesn't for one minute make them smarter than average - it just makes us as their parents poorer than average! But, since one assumes they were compelled to read books to obtain their various diplomas, one hopes the habit might have continued?) I also have two grandchildren ages 6 and 9 who are able to read in both French and English, and who love their books - but neither are members of their local library. Their books are bought for them either at school from monthly Scholastic flyers (for which their teachers earn enormous numbers of free books for their classroom, which is a good thing) or at Costco and other book stores.
But, think what they are all missing! Libraries are fantastic places, full of millions of opportunities to go to, experience or just escape from anything you desire! Just entering one excites me like nothing else can - truly! I can cheerfully while away hours and hours just perusing the stacks of possibilities at my disposal, and leave, my arms overflowing with an assorted selection, thrilled to bits in anticipation - and all for FREE!!
So, why would anyone buy a book?
I do have an extensive personal library which I have collected over the years, but they are mostly non-fiction books, which I will refer to and turn back to time and time again. Plus, a number of 'special' well-written fiction pieces which I just had to have in my collection. But, generally, most people only read general fiction books once. So, what happens to all those paper-backs purchased at Costco? Plus, what will happen to libraries when my generation moves on to greener pastures? I dread to think ...
With these thoughts in my head, I was simply delighted recently to discover an adorable book called "The Uncommon Reader" by the well-known British play write Alan Bennett. It's a wonderful little book (only 121 small-sized pages) but every sentence, every word, has a function, is meant to be there and adds to the overall story. Nothing is wasted.It tells of the Queen, following her yapping corgis one day, coming across the Westminster travelling bookmobile parked near Buckingham Palace. Not wanting to seem rude or give offence, she reluctantly checks out a book. Thus begins her journey as an avid and ecstatic reader. Simple enough story line, but in Bennett's uncommonly capable hands it becomes a witty narrative about the power of reading. In Uncommon Reader Her Majesty's new-found passion distracts her from her 'duties' and worries her equerries to the point where they conspire to bring the Queen's literary odyssey to an end. But, do read to the very last page - Alan Bennett does not disappoint even then ...
As Edward Marriotte of the Observer commented:
"Bennett's portrait of her is not only extremely funny, but also, one imagines, not far off the truth. Travelling by coach to state occasions, she becomes practised at waving and reading at the same time, 'the trick being to keep the book below the level of the window and to keep focused on it and not on the crowds'. As she works her way through the canon, her critical faculties become more acute. 'Am I alone,' she confides in her notebook, 'in wanting to give Henry James a good talking-to?' Through books, she discovers a way to express herself that has been denied her by her upbringing and vocation."
Marriotte continues:
"The Uncommon Reader is a gloriously entertaining comic narrative, but it is also much more: a deadly serious manifesto for the potential of reading to change lives, for its ability to broaden horizons, to imagine oneself in others' shoes, and to enable one - or should that be One - to break out from the constraints of upbringing, class and education and lead the life you've always wanted. And, Bennett ponders, who might need that more than the Queen?"
Great stuff ... and it all started out with a trip to the library.
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