Monday, December 29, 2008

Judging Books By Their Cupboards

A cousin with whom I'd lost touch over the years tracked me down some time ago. Out of the blue I got a phone call from him and we caught up with each other. I hadn't seen him since I was about ten and he was thirteen.

"I remember when you were little, your room looked like a library," he said. "Shelves of books -- and you'd read all of them!"

I looked around at the bookshelves lining my living room and office area and thought of the ones in our bedrooms. Not much has changed.

So when I came across this Web page with pictures of the world's 20 most beautiful libraries, I was intrigued.

One, the library at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, I've actually stepped foot in. For a whole hour -- all that our tour itinerary allotted us. Ridiculous.

These magnificent libraries are works of architectural and visual art as well as repositories of the world's records. Incredible beauty encasing incredibly ordered words.

Ah well.

Maybe I'll make my own itinerary someday and include these among the stops. I assure you I'll allow more than an hour at each. Care to join me?

8 comments:

Augusta Scattergood said...

I, too, love that library at Trinity College! Thanks for linking to my blog. I enjoyed reading about your two moms. Augusta

Anne said...

I should have credited your blog as the source of the link to the libraries!

I've got one taker for my library tour -- wanna join us? :-)

Patsylynn said...

Thanks Anne, I just shared the pictures of the libraries with my Mom, Dolores.

Patsylynn said...
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Anne said...

Aren't the pictures great? Say 'hi' to your mom for me!

Patsylynn said...

Yes, they are beautiful, here is a picture of the Redlands, CA library. If I ever get around to it I will take some interior pictures and send them to you. The Redlands post office is beautiful too.

I told Mom hi and she says hi back to you too!

Patsylynn said...

Oops forgot the link for the Redlands A.K. Smiley Library! http://www.akspl.org/

Anne said...

I found the photo tour link -- as beautiful inside as it is outside. It's great that they preserved the structure and its spirit. Thanks for sharing!