Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the tag “books”

Libraries All Over


Libraries. We think of them in terms of brick and glass with rows of shelves and some comfy chairs. Yet, they can appear in many places and in many forms.

A Works Progress Administration Bookmobile visits Bayou De Large, Louisiana. Photo from the New Deal Network.

Pack horse librarians pose in Hindman, Kentucky. From the University of Kentucky’s Goodman-Paxton Photographic Collection

A booketeria in a Nashville supermarket. Photo from the Nashville Public Library.

A vending machine library at a Bay Area school. Photo originally from Inside Bay Area.

A former Wal-Mart photo from the McAllen Public Library.

BiblioTreka transformed into the pop-up library.

Pop-Up Library known as the BiblioTreka (image: libraryasincubatorproject.com)

IKEA shelves. Bondi Beach. Books. Perfection. (image:PeaceandNoise.blogspot.com)

A true book is never phoney. (image: PeaceandNoise.blogspot.com)

This gives me hope books ae not on the wayse as technology encroaches on book-in-hand versus book on-screen. Any unusual libraries spottings?

Continuing the Love for LOC


Cover of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Pi...

Cover via Amazon

Visiting the Library of Congress is high on my BIG list, yet that one wish won’t be actualized until time and funding match up. For now I continue visiting it on-line for research and serendipity surprises. For instance, as I browsed for Idaho pioneer entries my screen popped up their Books that Shaped America entry. I’m thinking somewhere there is a book about pioneers in Idaho? It didn’t matter because I became lost through the eras as I browsed, read, and absorbed.  Fascinating, illuminating, and enlightening how the books reflected the times and influenced future reading. For the entire link go to Books That Shaped America.

Here are some titles to ponder:

Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard Improved (1732) and The Way to Wealth (1785)

Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820)

L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906)

Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936)

Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)

Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat (1957)

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

Ralph Nader, Unsafe at Any Speed (1965)

César Chávez, The Words of César Chávez (2002)

I know, I know–I’m hearing the “what about _______!” I was surprised at what made the list and what didn’t. I hope you check it out and let me know what you think should have made it.

Interior Library of Congress, by G. D. Wakely

Interior Library of Congress, by G. D. Wakely (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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