Hoarder of the printed word

EMC Editorial - Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Kingston Frontenac Public Library's Central Branch for a story on the fantastic local charity Friends of the Library, and it got me thinking about books. That in itself is not too much of a stretch, I suppose, as I seem to be thinking about books most of the time anyway. Specifically, however, my visit to the library made me realize just how rarely I step foot in that fine institution considering my love of reading.

Make no mistake, I am passionate about what the library stands for and the services it provides. If I were still living in Toronto, I would most certainly be among those fighting tooth and nail to make sure the public libraries do not fall victim to the city's looming budget cuts.

The problem is that I have some pretty serious book hoarding issues, and the idea of having to finish and return books in such a limited amount of time does not fit with my reading habits.

What I prefer - and believe me, I'm not proud of this - is wandering around Chapters or Indigo, feasting my eyes on all the beautiful, pristine novels just itching to be cracked open and read for the first time. Usually, I'll leave with at least one new purchase. I'll get the book home and it will sit in a pile with the others, either beside the bed or on the edge of a bookshelf. When I'm feeling blue, I may take it out and lovingly smell and stroke it, running my fingers delicately over the orderly sentences and paragraphs on the back cover.

The advent of e-readers has given me a whole new way to hoard books. While the shopping experience is nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing as spending time in an actual book store, the idea that you purchase the novels online makes attaining them far too easy for the comfort of my husband, who often comments on the devastating consequences my book buying habit inflicts on our credit card balances. Sure, e-books are cheaper, but they're also much more apt to be purchased impulsively. Thus I am left with two additional, albeit virtual, piles of books to read - one on the Kobo and the other on the iPad.

Eventually I do read all these books, although never in the order in which they were purchased. The trouble is that e-readers are still very new to me, and I can't bring myself to make jump completely. Thus, after years and years of continuous book buying, I am left with more paperbacks and hard covers that I know what to do with. They all won't fit on our bookshelves and god knows nobody wants them.

The point I'm trying to make with all this is that I have been searching for something to do with the many boxes and bags of books that have been making our basement look like crap for the last three years. At last, I believe I have found an outlet that will allow me to rid our house of the excess literature, and feel great about it at the same time: Friends of the Library. They are always looking for people to donate books for their daily sales at the Isabel Turner and Central branches, as well as their major annual sale coming up later this month.

The best part is that all proceeds go toward maintaining excellent local library services and programming - all we need to do is look at the situation in Toronto for an example of why public support for libraries is absolutely critical.

I suppose a large part of my motivation comes from the desire to turn my soon-to-arrive daughter into a library person. I'll be thrilled if she shares my passion for reading, but would like to encourage her to borrow books instead of buying them. With any luck, maybe I can break some of my own bad habits along the way.