Reverence Librarian

[corvideye]

While walking through the children's section of the library today, I noticed a book called "Illustrated Timeline of World History", which immediately filled me with happy fondness and nostalgia--not for that specific book, but for others like it which I enjoyed so much as a kid. This caused me to ponder that the fact that I've loved reference books ever since I was a kid is probably yet another sign that I'm a weirdo. When I was ca. 11, I discovered the Reference Section, and it became my Trove of Wonders, all those tantalizing books I longed to take home but couldn't, all the answers I had always craved about what things were called and how they came to be. I adored encyclopedias. I loved any authoritative, comprehensive tome stuffed with glossaries, maps, charts, tables, timelines, and diagrams. Anything that would unlock the secrets of how to construct realities, how to build worlds...

While selecting my current batch of reading material entirely out of the Young Adult section, I also considered how much of the books I still like are classified as "young adult" or "juvenile" or whatever. You know, fantasy and science fiction, historical novels, comics, animation, graphic novels, illustrated stories, mythology, folklore, fantasy art books and the like. I find that interesting, in a sociological way. Gee, am I juvenile? I prefer to think I just haven't let my imagination, my sense of wonder and sense of humor, and my visual sensibility ossify. As Berke Breathed says, "It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

Comments

[katanubis.livejournal.com]

If you're a "weirdo" because you love reference books, then you join a large crowd of SCA folks. And it's one thing to grow up, but that doesn't mean you have to grow old about it. You can be an adult and still have fun.

I'm still reading reference materials. Right now it's a sourcebook on references to the feminine construct of 16th C feminism in England. (It's also one of the most boring reference books I've picked up in a long time. I'm going to be *so* glad when I'm done with it. I'm also *so* glad that I didn't live in the late 16th C England.)

[corvideye.livejournal.com]

Well, naturally the people I hang out with are of like mind! The amateur anthropologist in me just gets a kick out of observing our atypical norms.

come to think of it, it's funny that as a kid I liked "grown up" books like reference works, and as an adult I like "juvenile" stuff AND reference books. But then in general I tend to want society not to be so insistent on drawing boundaries... Some books can be enjoyed at any age.