Let’s have a toast today to libraries. April 7th is National Beer Day AND National Library Day. We will start my book selection with Books. If I started otherwise, we may never finish. For National Library Day, I have several books to highlight this event.
The first is “The Home Library” by Arthur Penn, published in 1886. I was notified about this book by my niece when she worked at the Smithsonian. She sent a picture and PDF file of the Smithsonian’s copy. I loved reading it so much, I had to own a copy, Finally I was able to locate one for myself. It is one of my prized books. Not only is the cover simply beautiful, but the book has absolutely wonderful advice on how to truly build a library, that still rings true today.
On page 15, I read “A book that is really worth reading is worth owning. It is well every year to lay aside a certain fixed sum to be spent in books. No other portion of our annual expenditure will yield such high returns.”
One last quote from Mr. Penn, “As soon as the taste for reading is formed, that taste begins to improve, and its improvement should be sedulously cultivated…He is constantly going up a literary ladder. it is the act of climbing which is beneficial, not the elevation attained.”
Another Library Day book is “The American Public Library Building” by Joseph L. Wheeler and Alfred Morton Githens, 1941. This is an intriguing book written by a Librarian and an Architect on how to design a Library, this being The Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. The Carnegie Corporation of New York was involved (the free library endowment guys), along with the American Library Association. This is a nuts and bolts book on designing and building a world-class effective library.
Once a library is built, what do you put inside? “How to Form a Library” by H.B. Wheatley, also published in 1886, gives great tips. The section on Children’s books is interesting because there is much time spent on how to teach children how to take care of, how to handle books. The author states “It is positive torture to a man who loves books to see the way they are ordinarily treated.”
There is an owl on the cover of the book that reminds me of the five owls, one on each of the corners, and one over the main entrance, of the main library of Chicago-Harold Washington Center. Owls and knowledge go together. (Added tip, when visiting the Chicago Library, look up and down. Down on the first floor is a terrazzo and brass flooring that shows the travels of Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, the first settler of Chicago. Up on the ceiling over the escalators is the Vietnam dog tag Memorial ‘Above and Beyond’. Other than “The Vietnam Wall” in Washington D.C., this is the only exhibit that acknowledges every American that died in the war with their own name (tag). There is a display that can bring up info on each soldier.)
Of course, my library will have a selection of “Banned Books” by Anne Lyon Haight, 1955.
Two other books that I have used to stock my library are “Book Finds” by Ian C. Ellis, which has helped navigate through used book buying; and “People and Books: a Study of Book-buying Habits” by Henry Link and Harry Arthur Hopf, 1946.
Whew. After all that book-buying information for Libraries, I could use a drink, perhaps a beer. I have a book on that. Why not, this is National Beer Day. First is “Beers of the World” by Bill Yenne, 1994. This book has a good history of many regional, as well as international beers, along with some very nice photos. In the course of this year, I will bring up some curious and notable beer stories from literally around the world. To tease you… Amsterdam, Paris, Japan, and Blarney’s island are several locations to come up.
The next book is “Romance of Brewing” by Stanley Strong, printed 1951 by the Crown Cork Company. This book goes deep into the history of brewing beers and ales. It also has some very beautiful illustrations and paintings. There is not a better book on the history of brewing, but it is rather tough to find.
A companion book is “Background to the Crown” by Cecil J. Parker, published circa 1950. This goes into the invention of the bottle cap. First there were corks. Then there was this idea of metal caps. This book shows us the timeline of various ideas, until this one was patented and used now around the world. Both of these books are from the same company, one written by the CEO. Now I need to find a history of the “church key.”
After I had a few beers, I researched the internet for a few more drinking books books for a library. The internet can be dangerous. How about: “Bar and Peace, Tequila Mockingbird, The Last of the Mojitos, Ale of Two Cities, The Absinthe Minded Professor, Scotch-22, Lord of the Gins, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Beer, Adventures of Huckleberry Gin, Charlie and the Vodka Factory, The Old Man and The Seagrams, Gin Eyre, The Handmaid’s Ale, The Flask of Zorro, The Three Whiskeyteers…”
“hick” Thanks for reading. Cheers!
Librarytomes 