Whistle-stop

Over the weekend, Wellington's CBD was very subdued; it's always like that over the summer holiday period. The busiest place in town - to my gratification - seemed to be the public library.

If I got one thing out of working at the National Library, it was a renewed appreciation for public libraries. It's a cold person who doesn't like libraries, but it's not until you get into the sector a little that you appreciate just how much the people who run these places care.

Of course, this care is expressed in different ways, and funded to different extents. New Zealand libraries range from the architecturally exquisite to the shabbily run-down; the service ranges from brilliant to indifferent.

With the creation of the Auckland supercity, Auckland City Council now has 55 branch libraries. Wendy, a keen Auckland reader, has started the new year with a new mission, the Auckland Libraries Super Tour, visiting one of the libraries and reviewing it each week. She's kicked off with her local, Albany Village Library, and will cover ground from Wellsford to Waiuku.

I'm interested to see what Wendy's tour unearths. I imagine she'll be eagerly followed (perhaps even feted) by Auckland's librarians, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a invitation to the LIANZA conference in her future.

Crazy beautiful

One of the reasons I continue to buy print books - and believe that I will, even when all the ebook readers reach our shores - is simply that I like the way they look on their shelves. And I like walking past my books on my shelves, and thinking about them. I recently read this article about the joys of leaving books unread, and while I wouldn't go quite that far, I do like catching glimpses of books on my shelves that I'm saving for the right moment, or will return to when necessary.

I think that's part of the reason why this (s)lavish recreation of Donald Judd's library appeals to me so much.



Partly it's because yes, the books you acquire and keep over a lifetime of reading and thinking become an aggregate that says something about the person you have become.

And partly it's because someone at the Judd foundation didn't think it was enough to simply catalogue all 10,720 titles. Instead, they thought it was important that we be able to see a shelf-by-shelf, book-by-book facsimile of the two rooms of Judd's library, and the placement of every single item. It's magnificent, and a wee bit insane.