While I was driving from store to store today for my holiday errands, I started to think about how readers find the books they read. But I'm not writing about that topic in this post. It's about a side trip that my mind took that I am about to share.
It was about what I will call "The Library Game." That name is really a misnomer because it's not really a game. It's really a random way of finding interesting books in the library.
The "game" starts with selecting a random section of call numbers in the library. First, you go through the general choices such as fiction vs. non-fiction and the like. When you've done so, you choose a random shelving section and go there to peruse the shelves. You look at every title and pull out the ones that catch your eye. If you do this, you may be very surprised by what you find.
I have taught my two children to do this because it opens up the horizons. A person doing this may find something this way that he or she would have never thought to look for. I know my kids have and I think we're going to be doing it again soon. When we do, I'll report our results here. If you play it, please share your findings in the comments below.
When I thought of the game today, I recalled a situation in which I had browsed a randomly selected group of library shelves and found surprises. It was in the basement of a Catholic College that I had attended. My mother worked at that college and needed a ride home. But I had arrived early and thus had some time to kill as a result. So, I headed over to the library with no particular purpose in mind. What I found in that basement was the occult section, and the books I found went back to the 1910s and 1920s. It was surprising to me to find early 20th century books on ghosts and the paranormal. I don't recall what I read, but I remember that while flipping through one of the books, I discovered some very odd and amazing theories on ghostly apparitions. Whether or not you believe in such things, it was a window into the past about what the so-called experts of the time thought about such matters. Now that I am thinking about it again - maybe I'll go back there sometime and find inspiration to write a story line for a new novel.
Also, in my thinking about the library and interesting library exploration, I thought of something not related to the Library Game. I recalled the time I went to the law library at Oxford. I had taken the train from Sheffield to Oxford expecting to be able to walk into the law library. It was only when I arrived that I learned that I needed special permission to enter the library. Fortunately, I was able to obtain that permission, but I was required to read an oath that centered around me respecting the library and using it with the utmost of care. The most memorable part of the oath that I can recall was that I would not introduce any source of flame into the library. Obviously, it would have never occurred to me do anything of the sort. But the fact that it was in the oath at all was astonishing.
If Wikipedia is to be believed, the oath is a historic one (which has been modified over time) and is thus:
I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, nor to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library, or kindle therein, any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library.
In closing, as you might guess, I could write endlessly about my love of libraries. And, I am sure I will do so in future posts.
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