At a Library Near You

Like Scott, I've been thinking a lot about good ways to find new books. For me, nothing is quite as effective as browsing in good bookstores, which we have a-plenty in Chicago. I also find new books via blogs, newspapers/magazines, online booksellers, and publisher web sites. But I also find new books from another important source.

The library.

Pah, you say: Libraries only have old books. Tell me, when was the last time you visited a library? I mean, of your own volition and not in the company of persons under 48 inches in height?

Maybe your experience is not so fresh, so let me explain. Every library has a shelf for "new books." Often they have several: one each for fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, etc. Now, I'm generally opposed to the maddening practice of arranging books on tables, counters, carts, or anywhere else except ON THE SHELVES WHERE THEY BELONG AND WHERE I, IN MY INNOCENCE, WILL LOOK FOR THEM. But I make an exception for new books, which deserve a place, albeit temporary, all their own.

I'm a regular customer of the new-book shelves at the Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago and the main branch of the Evanston Public Library. For some reason I have better luck with the shelves at EPL than at Harold Wash — maybe the smaller scale of a suburban library makes it easier to browse. Whatever the reason, I often find books at EPL before I read or hear about them anyplace else.

Another library that does a great job with new books is the public library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, my home away from home. First, the spines are color-coded by year of publication. That means that, in the early months of the year, you can tell at a glance which books have just arrived. Second, the library's website lists new books in order of their arrival from the publisher, updated daily, so you have an almost real-time view of what's new in your category of interest. When you see a book you want, you can put in a request for it immediately. Third, if the library hasn't ordered the book yet, you can also use the website to suggest a purchase. Better yet, you can search the interlibrary loan system to see if any other library has ordered it yet, and get it from them. Some libraries seem to limit the "travel rights" of new books, but again I've often received a book through interlibrary loan weeks before it hits the pages of the New York Times Book Review.

Example: Yesterday at the new-books shelf I found Jonathan Wilson's An Ambulance Is on the Way (pub.date 2/15/05), Matthew Kneale's Small Crimes in an Age of Abundance (pub. date 3/15/05), and Ludmilla Ulitskaya's Sonechka (pub. data 5/03/05 — that is, five day ago).

Don't get me wrong — I still buy a ton of books. But I like the idea that money isn't necessarily a barrier if you want to discover new books and new authors.

Comments

[daniel olivas]

sam, you can even get one of my books at the harold washington library center and even at the new toman branch:

http://www.chipubweb.org/cgi-bin/cw_cgi?fullRecord+9610+735+1874764+1+0

i have no connection to the windy city but i'm delighted that i'm there in print!

[Sam]

Daniel, I'm delighted you're in print in Chicago too! I haven't been to the Toman branch yet, but it looks very cool. It's not all that far from the Mexican Fine Arts Center, which hosts some really great literary events. So I have two excuses to head down there ...

[Brenda Coulter]

Even in these days of shrinking budgets, libraries must still purchase new materials. Many people don't realize that requests from patrons carry a great deal of weight with librarians. So instead of walking away disappointed the next time you find your library doesn't have what you want, why not ask them to order it?

[Jersey Exile]

I work at Harvard University's main library (Widener), and not only do we keep up with recent publications, but we also order multiple copies of the "blockbuster" books such as the Da Vinci Code. Not only that, but our Americana librarian has been acquiring tons of DVDs, including the Criterion Collection of movies and entire seasons of television shows. Who needs Borders or Barnes and Noble--where the coffee is $5 and you can't take anything home unless you purchase it--when you have your local public or academic library's recent acquisitions to browse at your leisure in the comfort of your own home (for free).

[daniel olivas]

...and harvard carries two of my books! say, this is fun! the only connection i have to harvard is my kid brother who went there. god bless university libraries!

[Ed]

The Ann Arbor library is said to be moving to a system where there will be RSS feeds of a lot more stuff that's on pages in the catalog now - I'm going to find out a lot more about that next week (I'm on an advisory board) & will report back.

Between a feed of the new stuff and online reserves I am amazed at how much I can get from the library even though I don't have the time or the habits to be browsing the stacks very much.