Features
Good books, old friends
- Details
- By Kara G. Kvasnicka
- Tuesday, November 29, -0001
- Hits: 325
Like me, these fellow book lovers have attempted to conduct a thorough cleaning only to find there are dust-catching volumes in every nook and cranny.
Not just on legitimate book shelves do we find them but on the tables beside our sofa and bed, on the desk next to our personal computer, in the basement or attic in boxes that have not been opened in years, on top of the refrigerator, in stacks on the floor to be tripped over frequently.
We must be very careful to keep our library books separate and apart or we are terribly confused when we get that overdue notice in the mail for a book we are certain we returned only to find it later under a bed or a car seat or, most mortifying of all, in the book shelves with our own books.
Used book stores, retail book outlets in the mall and now those super book stores which entice us with their long hours and espresso bars serve as magnets where we empty our pockets and load up our arms with rare or new tomes which we simply have to have.
The Library, a new picture book from Farrar Straus Giroux written by Sarah Stewart and illustrated by David Small shows just how serious a reader's problem can become if he or she collects too many books.
Stewart and Small, a wife and husband creative team, also collaborated on The Money Tree.
"Skinny, nearsighted and shy," heroine Elizabeth Brown is a book lover after our own hearts. Humorous illustrations show her either reading or carrying a book all the time — on the porch railing, in bed at night with a flash light, in a comfortable arm chair with a cup of tea, even while exercising or standing on her head.
An illustration showing her dragging a heavily laden steamer trunk to her living quarters at school reminds me of a time when my Mom was helping me carry my own trunk up several flights of steps to the college dorm room on the third floor I shared with two other girls. There were no elevators.
Halfway she dropped her end and asked in wonder, "What on earth do you have in here?"
I smiled and replied sheepishly, "I want to have all my books about me."
(Even if I never referred to them I was determined to give my dorm room that certain ambiance which only books can provide.)
After settling into her own house and taking up employment as a tutor, Elizabeth's book collecting habit grows worse and worse. When she goes shopping, she buys nothing but books.
Finally, "When volumes climbed the parlor walls and blocked the big front door, she had to face the awful fact she could not have one more."
And what does Elizabeth do to solve this severe book overcrowding problem? She has so many books that she does not donate them to an existing library but to the establishment of a new library, named in her honor, the "Elizabeth Brown Free Library."
Afterwards, she learns to read in moderation and develops the healthy habit of walking to and from the library every day to check out books and return them where they can be organized logically and shared with everyone.
Dedicating her story "to the memory of the real Mary Elizabeth Brown, Librarian, Reader, Friend," Stewart uses a light, sing-song verse and a cheerfully ironic tone to convey both the rewards and pitfalls of being an avid reader.
Adult and child book lovers alike will appreciate the incredible courage Elizabeth displays in giving away all her books.
And although I would never advocate parting with every book you own, remember if you are feeling slightly overrun with them, the library is a place where everyone can appreciate their contents.
Kvasnicka was East Village Magazine news editor from 1985 to 1989 and has been the magazine's research consultant since 1989. She has a master's degree in information and library studies from the University of Michigan and has worked for the Genesee District Library since 1989.
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