A Lament for Libraries

Apparently some libraries are deciding to throw out older books that haven't been checked out in awhile...

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" may be one of Ernest Hemingway's best-known books, but it isn't exactly flying off the shelves in northern Virginia these days. Precisely nobody has checked out a copy from the Fairfax County Public Library system in the past two years, according to a front-page story in yesterday's Washington Post.

And now the bell may toll for Hemingway. A software program developed by SirsiDynix, an Alabama-based library-technology company, informs librarians of which books are circulating and which ones aren't. If titles remain untouched for two years, they may be discarded--permanently. "We're being very ruthless," boasts library director Sam Clay.

As it happens, the ruthlessness may not ultimately extend to Hemingway's classic. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" could win a special reprieve, and, in the future, copies might remain available at certain branches. Yet lots of other volumes may not fare as well. Books by Charlotte Brontë, William Faulkner, Thomas Hardy, Marcel Proust and Alexander Solzhenitsyn have recently been pulled.

Library officials explain, not unreasonably, that their shelf space is limited and that they want to satisfy the demands of the public. Every unpopular book that's removed from circulation, after all, creates room for a new page-turner by John Grisham, David Baldacci, or James Patterson--the authors of the three most checked-out books in Fairfax County last month."

read the rest here.

This is so sad.  The highlight of my childhood was exploring my local libraries and discovering books, especially old classics.  What happens when all we have are the new books, and no one thinks about the older ones?  This almost makes me want to go and check out all of my favorite books periodically just so that they will stay on the shelves... but what a Herculean task that would be! 

carpe diem

According to this thing there are only 157 days until we are married!  Somehow that sounds better than saying 5 months and 6 days. 

I think I'm only a little obsessed. 

What I Might Write to Someone If I Had a Penpal Today

...or maybe not.

Dear ____,

Is it really possible to be this busy and still be this happy?  I finally, finally, FINALLY turned in my Qualifying Paper this afternoon-- you know, the one that's going to miraculously turn into a thesis next spring, the way a wormy little caterpillar turns into a bee-yoo-tiful butterfly.  It was supposed to be in no later than midnight.  Did I mention that the silly thing is FORTY-FIVE pages and not yet full-grown?  BUT

I don't have time to celebrate because I still need to write another 10-15 page term paper about why Mary's life (truly Christ-like + perfectly feminine) = a symbol of Jungian individuation for women.  Also, I need to answer 4 essay questions for the take-home final for the same class. (No more than 3 pages per essay, please, says my Professor, so that ought to say something about how much COULD be said on these topics!)

And you would think from all of this rambling that I have actually taken the cold medicine that Stephen was ever-so-kind enough to pick up for me since this is by far the sickest I have been in a Very Long Time, but no, I have not taken any.  This, my friends, is coffee + not much sleep + relief + worry + being in love.  There's no other way to explain it. 

sincerely,
Your Humble Correspondent

P.S.  It's actually forty-SIX pages.  I just remembered.

Why I Love My University, #897

I carelessly left my new 1 GB memory stick thingamajig which contains nearly all my thesis research in the computer lab for at least four, maybe even five hours and when I finally remembered it, it was still there!  Right where I left it, too.  

la vita e bella or something like that

I'm engaged!!!    

It happened on Friday night.  I wanted to wait and write something deep and profound but I'm all out of profound thoughts at the moment, so there ya go.  Maybe some other day. 

How's this for now?  My diamond ring is beautiful and I love, love, LOVE the man who gave it to me.