Even though I can’t walk down to the public library to check out books and DVDs—or, more to the point, engage in the important work of shelf reading—the library has been reaching out to me with offers of its free online services. Publishers are also making lots of books and magazines available free-of-charge, as we know from reading the Washington Post and New York Times without benefit of the dreaded “you have only one more free article left” message. Diary of a Shelf Reader : What the Heck is an Athenaeum? (And more on the Library of Congress)4/3/2020
A few years ago I visited the Boston Athenaeum with my friend Denice, who lives in Dorchester, MA. She had shelled out the money for an annual membership. But why? Why pay to go to what is basically a library with dusty, moldy old books? I’ll tell you why: an athenaeum is not just “a building or room in which books, periodicals, and newspapers are kept for use,” as Merriam-Webster has it; nor is it simply a literary or scientific association. An athenaeum is, simply put, a house of worship for bibliophiles (booklovers), generally without children present, though the Boston Athenaeum does have a fantastic collection of classic children’s literature. And art galleries, lectures, concerts, and, yes, books! |
Author Rebecca Moore is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. She is currently Reviews Editor for Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions and Co-Director of The Jonestown Institute. Archives
December 2021
CategoriesContact:
[email protected] |