So, I really am the child of my parents, at least in this way.

[randomness]

Both of my parents were librarians for most of their lives, until they retired, and a lot of times the library ended up being my day care center and baby-sitter, once sitting in an academic library became interesting enough to me to keep me occupied.

One of my early memories is being left in a Rutgers library reading room with a physics book in front of me. The memory includes a chart of the various subatomic particles known at the time, and various details about them. I had to have been eight or younger, because we moved away from New Jersey by the time I was eight and a half.

Ever since, libraries in general, and academic libraries in particular, have been a kind of refuge. Nowadays, I find myself browsing around them at night. They're often open later than other libraries. And they have a lot more books.

A couple of nights ago I found myself climbing the stack stairways in one of the local academic libraries, thinking about my ideal of the ultimate library; one with copies of every book (and scroll, etc.) ever written, shelved level upon level, high into the sky and deep underground. Hundreds of miles of shelves. Reading desks in the open stacks, and stairways from level to level. Books in hundreds of languages. Books on every conceivable subject. And a huge staff cataloging, maintaining, and caring for the collection.

Yes, I spent a lot of my life in SML. :)

(I leave aside here the idea of a library containing all the books never written, from The Sandman, because that's a lot more books. I seem to remember that in The Sandman Companion Gaiman mentions that all the books ever written are in a small, rarely-visited annex of Lucien's library, which contains all the books never written. I'd be content with that small annex, thanks.)

Comments

[ladybird97.livejournal.com]

Have you read Borges' "The Library of Babel"?

Or Jasper Fforde's "The Well of Lost Plots"?

If not, you should. You'd love them :)

[gee-tar.livejournal.com]

The "Library of Babel" is a great short story. Intrigued by the idea of a library containing every book that could conceivably be written, I once did the calculations for how large such a library would have to be given the story's specifications. While it is technically finite, such a library would have to be significantly larger than our universe.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

If not, you should. You'd love them :)

I seem to remember people telling me this, which makes me think I posted on this before. I really should find them.

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

Looking for a copy of the Library of Babel, I've found a collection of short stories which includes it:
In the Stacks: short stories about libraries and librarians. Edited and with an introduction by Michael Cart (who is, of course, a librarian)
(needless to say, it's in my hands now, and I'll be reading it shortly.)

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Next!

Re: oooohhhhhh!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

*humming, to the tune of the BNL song: "If I had a trillion dollars...I'd make you a department head"*

[sarabellum.livejournal.com]

you should definitely read Haruki Murakami's new book!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Cool! I'll look for it.

[sarabellum.livejournal.com]

it's called Kafka on the Shore.

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

Come visit me at work!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Where do you work?

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

One of the big Harvard libraries.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Cool! I'll call you.

[iamlisabee.livejournal.com]

Definitely, one of the perks of being a librarian is that you get to spend your working hours IN THE LIBRARY! (Even if you're in a mediumsized public library...)

[kenjari.livejournal.com]

I would also recommend Salamander by Thomas Wharton. It's a historical fantasy about a printer/bookbinder in 18th century Europe. The plot gets a little sloppy at the end, but the rest of the book is filled with delightful stuff.
I, too, love libraries. I often find myself losing track of time in the BPL.

[nafe.livejournal.com]

I found my ideal Library when I was still in College. Probably around age 21 or 22. My ideal Library is part of the Skywalker Ranch, it it is the most beautiful room i've ever been in.

It's not exhaustive by any reasonable literary standard, and in fact, I was barely aware of the books, as they served more as osrt of an aesthetic backdrop. However, the chairs were gorgeous and leather and had a sensual comfort that I just couldn't resist. Also, quiet but very good jazz was playing somewhere off in the distance from an old radio. But best of all was the giant amber stained-glass dome that soared above the room, filling it with a warm and gentle light.

Clearly, we have wildly different standards in Libraries, but if you ever want to come hand out w/me in mine, I'm sure there's some good scotch sitting around somewhere in there that's not too hard to find.

[foms.livejournal.com]

Now I find myself wanting to differentiate between
1) a place to store books in such a way as to make them retrievable
and
2) a place in which to use books comfortably.

[marith.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

I've mostly given up on Orson Scott Card, but his short story "The Originist" convinced me that working at the central library on Trantor during the time of the first Foundation would be the best career in the multiverse.

[dpolicar]

The idea originates from Borges, "The Library of Babel."
which is, incidentally, here:
http://jubal.westnet.com/hyperdiscordia/library_of_babel.html

Mmmm, library

[kateorama.livejournal.com]

Not quite as highfalutin', but I do remember my mom going to Board of Education meetings in the local high school library. I was about six or seven, and she took me with her because my dad was apparently incapable of protecting me from my sister's cruelty.

So I would sit and read high school books, pretty happily, while they had their meeting.

My library jobs were some of my favorites over the years, and I still love to get lost in the stacks, just following my nose/mind through the subjects and titles. UIUC claims to have the third-largest university library collection in the US. It's after Harvard and Yale, where I know you have already been. So it's time you came to Urbana. :)