I Collect Libraries
A lot of people have some type of souvenir they look for when they travel: Different kinds of souvenirs, different types and different sorts.
Spoons, t-shirts... I am partial to trying the native candy of an exotic locale.
But for the most part I collect library accounts.
I seek them out, I map them. I learn about the people of the place I am visiting: Do they care about the public store of knowledge and resources? What is the weirdest music this place can offer? How old is the oldest library in town? What significant amenities or spectacles of architecture are demonstrated within the library walls?
In New Orleans, Jackson Hole, New York, and Washington, D.C. I have wandered through stacks and catacombs of knowledge. If I could weasel a free account out of them, I did it. It means nothing to them, one more name who is never going to be around to put coffee rings on a book cover and say it was like that already: To me it is a fond memory on my keychain, and immediate access to knowledge and culture should I find myself in any city I have ever visited at least once before.
Beats the Hell out of a t-shirt.
This photo was taken at the Haggard Library in Plano, Texas, after I realized what it is I do.
Spoons, t-shirts... I am partial to trying the native candy of an exotic locale.
But for the most part I collect library accounts.
I seek them out, I map them. I learn about the people of the place I am visiting: Do they care about the public store of knowledge and resources? What is the weirdest music this place can offer? How old is the oldest library in town? What significant amenities or spectacles of architecture are demonstrated within the library walls?
In New Orleans, Jackson Hole, New York, and Washington, D.C. I have wandered through stacks and catacombs of knowledge. If I could weasel a free account out of them, I did it. It means nothing to them, one more name who is never going to be around to put coffee rings on a book cover and say it was like that already: To me it is a fond memory on my keychain, and immediate access to knowledge and culture should I find myself in any city I have ever visited at least once before.
Beats the Hell out of a t-shirt.
This photo was taken at the Haggard Library in Plano, Texas, after I realized what it is I do.