In an effort to subtly promote the “Vote Yes for the Library” campaign while not crossing any ethical lines, I decided to create a small display called “Love Your Library” that lives at the reference desk of the Lawrence Public Library. It was fun to see what we had in our collection that could count; here’s what ended up on the display (As always, pix and synopses are adapted from WorldCat, Goodreads, & Amazon):

America’s Library: The Story of the Library of Congress, 1800-2000 The American Library of Congress holds over 110 million items — many of them unique and priceless — and this charts the history of the Library and its holdings, from its initial 740-book collection begun in 1800 to its miles of bookshelves today. Vintage photos and illustrations pack a presentation which is a must for anyone who digs American book history.

Book by Book Drawing on sources as diverse as Dr. Seuss and Simone Weil, P. G. Wodehouse and Isaiah Berlin, Pulitzer Prizewinning critic Michael Dirda shows how the wit, wisdom, and enchantment of the written word informs and enriches nearly every aspect of life, from education and work to love and death. Organized by significant life events and abounding with quotations from great writers and thinkers, Book by Book showcases Dirda’s capacious love for and understanding of books.

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