Five Things

1.     I ordered the new Jane Casey from the UK in February for my sister’s birthday and it finally arrived on Sunday night.  In June!   Wasn’t it nice of me to wrap and deliver it the next day instead of reading it myself first?   If you have not read this suspense author, start with book 1 about feisty Maeve Kerrigan.  

2.     Did you ever think you would hear about a Nascar driver named Bubba who wants to rid the sport of the Confederate flag?   Brave guy!   Maybe the world is changing!

3.     Many of us are worried about the future library book sales so I was pleased to read this Ithaca Library has begun planning one for fall!  Road trip, anybody?

4.     There is a market for illuminated manuscripts of medieval choirs, which is unsurprising although I doubt anyone has one hidden away in the attic as the author seems to hope.  Aren’t they beautiful?  

15th-century choir books (image from Apollo Magazine)

5.     My textbook has some interesting information about libraries:

"By the first century BC there were many libraries in Rome.  Some were associated with temples, others could be found in public baths which had alcoves in which to store scrolls.  Many were in the private homes of wealthy Romans.  Aristotle’s library, for example, was brought to Rome in the first century BC by the Roman general Sulla.  Cicero had a library in each of his seven villas.”

First of all, while it’s funny that Romans enjoyed reading in the baths, who wants to read a damp scroll?   Second, I am jealous of Cicero, but wouldn’t you always find yourself looking for a book that was in the wrong villa?

Foundations of Library and Information Science, Chapter 2 (internal citations omitted)