12.10.10

(e) library

To have public and private libraries has been one of my goals since I was in high school. How great it will be to open doors that will lead to thousand different adventures.

10 years ago, having our school’s mini-library as an inspiration, I believed it was really plausible. As soon as I reached college, I started collecting books. It was a late start, but a beginning none-the-less. I kept on collecting books whether related to my course or not just as long as I fancied them. Adopting a philosophy of a friend, “you may not read them right now, but somebody else will.”I was more inspired when I heard of the existence of Booksale where one can purchase good books for less—one should have the knack in looking for a good book in a good condition with a good price.

After graduating, having a good job, and receiving my first ever salary, I became more ambitious and extended my domain to National Book Store and Power Books, buying my most prized and loved books (ex: JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings trilogy, James Joyce’s A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground).

Now, all of them clutter my home. Visitors can find them anywhere—on the bed and under it, on the drawers, in the closet, on and under the table…the closest image I can find is that of Inkheart’s Mo and Meggie’s house. My father threatened me once to light a match on a single leaf he would see. I tried my best to fit them in cramped spaces while making sure that neither my father nor smaller creatures could touch them. I’m sure my father hasn’t but I have long accepted that bugs and termites have made a permanent abode in some of my treasures.

However, I have stopped collecting lately, owing to, drum roll please, ebooks. They are more convenient (as I am working with computers most of the time) and efficient (as I can store them in folders without occupying so much space in my bag). Reliability is a question though since I have found most of the ebooks were made in haste—spelling errors here and there.

Friendly pages of real books still beckon me but as for now, I have to content myself with ebooks since I don’t really have time for serious reading. Committing a crime it is against the authors and publishers of the books, but still, I have to catch up with my reading. Whether it is a paper-made or lcd-made book, as long as it serves my purpose in reading, I don’t mind.

My public and private libraries can wait. They won’t materialize anyway until I have a bigger space and since I have nothing but a cent of ambition in my pocket, I rather start with my electronic library. Who says I’m still far from achieving one of my childhood dreams?

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