Hidden Libraries

 With a degree in library science, no one will be astonished to learn that I love libraries.  Through Hidden Libraries by D. C. Helmuth, I discovered libraries whose existence was totally unknown to me.

                                    

I knew about Little Free Libraries which are small collections on the street.  I didn't know that the first Little Free Library was begun in 2009, and that there are now 75,000 of them in 88 countries.  

I also picked up a book from a Little Free Library for the first time recently.

It was mentioned in Hidden Libraries that two librarians stocked a cart with books that local homeless people said they wanted to read.  I thought that was a wonderful idea.  

I very much disliked the woman who requested The Lord of the Flies "to teach a friend what the world was really like".  When I read The Lord of the Flies, I remembered thinking that it was what the world would be like if it were populated solely by adolescent boys, or people who had the mentality of adolescent boys. 

I discovered that there were cards in the front of library books because you were supposed to sign the card and leave it with library staff.  No one did that anymore.  I think I did it with books I borrowed from my university's library, but never with books from public libraries.  It wasn't expected from users at public libraries.

I was disgusted to learn that in Bogota, Columbia  the wealthy threw books they purchased in the trash after they were finished reading them.  This happened every day!  A man found these books that had been thrown in the trash and established a library with them.  I could never throw a book away myself.  Even if I disliked it, someone else might love it.

This book stated that deaf children were isolated unless they were taught sign language.  This gives the impression that there is a single deaf sign language that is used all over the world.  There are different deaf sign languages in various countries, or even local deaf sign languages.  I even read about two deaf children who created a language to communicate with each other. 

I thought that The Think Differently Book Exchange was an amazing idea.  This collection existed in New Zealand.  It was in a catering refrigerator which was full of books that individuals donated because the books caused them to think differently.  I personally would want to keep books that caused me to think differently.  I would have to buy a second copy of such books to donate.

There were numerous types of libraries mentioned that I haven't discussed here.  This was absolutely fascinating. I considered this a book about alternative libraries and graded it A.