They make me feel guilty every time I walk into the back room. And it's not their fault - or mine - that they're lonely and unread. It's the fact that no one could check out books from Park Library until this past August.
Sure, now students come in all the time to check out class-related books, which is a good thing; the library is, of course, an academic resource. But this has played with the non class-related books' feelings. It gives them false hope every time one of us on staff goes to grab a book from the back, only to pull from the shelf the lucky book to the right or left that happens to be required reading.
Books like "What a Free Press Means to America," which compiles ardent one-page letters from editors and distinguished journalists on the topic of the title, are rarely touched. I'm glad part of my job is becoming familiar with the books here, because I can't put it down.
About 200 journalists from all types of newspapers contributed to it - those from the New York Times, Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post Gazette and a bunch of other community and big-city newspapers that were around in 1984. And the year adds character; journalists then were frustrated by the public's lack of interest in the first amendment and freedom of the press just as many are today. The editor of the The New Britain Herald (Connecticut) wrote:
"Editors write of it; journalists talk of it exhaustively when they get together; our newspapers live by it. But the subject of the importance of a Free Press in America seldom comes up anywhere else. Frankly, a free press is a bother to many Americans, especially when something they don't want to appear in print, does ... It is hard to keep explaining that by printing the bad news we protect the right to print the good news."
For those who are journalismed out, books abound that have nothing to do with the press. Famous First Facts is a book many would have on their coffee table to entertain guests if it didn't cost about $200 (yay for being able to get it from the library for free). It holds wacky tid-bits of information, such as where, when and why the first Santa Claus school was founded, or when the fork was first introduced to America. Turns out it was brought to the U.S. in a leather case with a bodkin and knife by Gov. John Winthrop of Massachusetts in 1630 - he wanted to follow a a new style of eating introduced by Queen Elizabeth.
There are rows of books in the back dedicated solely to the subject of writing. Old ones, such as Think Before You Write (1951), with its weathered cover, make it easy to pretend you're a 1950s newsman/woman - hunched over a desk in the midst of bustling reporters, cigarette in hand. (I love old books). On Writing Well is a nationally renowned book written more recently. It has funny witticisms interspersed with great advice (William Zinsser, the author, now has a quote on my facebook page).
And Jobs for Writers suggests alternatives to working for a newspaper or becoming a novelist for writers who find themselves in a pickle (this may especially apply considering our lovely economic situation).
Sure, now students come in all the time to check out class-related books, which is a good thing; the library is, of course, an academic resource. But this has played with the non class-related books' feelings. It gives them false hope every time one of us on staff goes to grab a book from the back, only to pull from the shelf the lucky book to the right or left that happens to be required reading.
Books like "What a Free Press Means to America," which compiles ardent one-page letters from editors and distinguished journalists on the topic of the title, are rarely touched. I'm glad part of my job is becoming familiar with the books here, because I can't put it down.
About 200 journalists from all types of newspapers contributed to it - those from the New York Times, Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post Gazette and a bunch of other community and big-city newspapers that were around in 1984. And the year adds character; journalists then were frustrated by the public's lack of interest in the first amendment and freedom of the press just as many are today. The editor of the The New Britain Herald (Connecticut) wrote:
"Editors write of it; journalists talk of it exhaustively when they get together; our newspapers live by it. But the subject of the importance of a Free Press in America seldom comes up anywhere else. Frankly, a free press is a bother to many Americans, especially when something they don't want to appear in print, does ... It is hard to keep explaining that by printing the bad news we protect the right to print the good news."
For those who are journalismed out, books abound that have nothing to do with the press. Famous First Facts is a book many would have on their coffee table to entertain guests if it didn't cost about $200 (yay for being able to get it from the library for free). It holds wacky tid-bits of information, such as where, when and why the first Santa Claus school was founded, or when the fork was first introduced to America. Turns out it was brought to the U.S. in a leather case with a bodkin and knife by Gov. John Winthrop of Massachusetts in 1630 - he wanted to follow a a new style of eating introduced by Queen Elizabeth.
There are rows of books in the back dedicated solely to the subject of writing. Old ones, such as Think Before You Write (1951), with its weathered cover, make it easy to pretend you're a 1950s newsman/woman - hunched over a desk in the midst of bustling reporters, cigarette in hand. (I love old books). On Writing Well is a nationally renowned book written more recently. It has funny witticisms interspersed with great advice (William Zinsser, the author, now has a quote on my facebook page).
And Jobs for Writers suggests alternatives to working for a newspaper or becoming a novelist for writers who find themselves in a pickle (this may especially apply considering our lovely economic situation).
There also are rows and rows of books dedicated to broadcast journalism, media ethics, feature writing, etc. We have about every book Bob Woodward (Watergate scandal journalist) has written. And we have the newly published Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, sent to us and signed by the author, who apparently went here. No one can tell me that's not cool
So what I'm trying to say is, we have a lot of great books over here at the Park Library. Come in and give them some company.
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