Flashes of Panic

I left for work a bit early this morning, and made a trip down to the south end of town to leave three boxes of books at Reader to Reader. I had originally planned to leave them at the local library, barely a block from the apartment, but there was hassle involved (call to arrange a drop-off, none of these books, none of those books, etc.) and there was a link on their page to Reader to Reader, who seemed ready to take anything I had to offer. And I could just swing by and drop them off.

When I was in college, moving my books meant three boxes, and I think mentally I still thought they were three boxes even after I swamped all available bookshelves in post-graduation apartments. My parents gradually offloaded the ten full shelves in my old bedroom to me, and I just keep accumulating them. There’s something comforting, to me, about having them available for re-reading. I’m not good at borrowing books, probably because I’m worried that I’ll like them and not want to return them. However, I’d estimate my current library requires forty-five to fifty linear feet of shelving.

In the moves I’ve made since returning to Massachusetts, I’ve begun sorting out ones I’m pretty sure I won’t re-read, and giving them away. I’ve given boxes to the Jones and Forbes Libraries, and now Reader to Reader. It’s not easy to let go of them, but when I realized that I couldn’t remember what was in these boxes, I took it as a good sign I wouldn’t miss them.

Beyond that, what’s motivating me this time is the clear destination for the books. With the libraries, it’s a bit ambiguous; sometimes the books go on the shelves, sometimes to the book sale, whatever. With Reader to Reader, they’re all going to libraries otherwise low on books. They’re going back into circulation, instead of stagnating on my shelves. I like that idea.

Now Playing: Fred Jones, Part 2 from Rockin’ The Suburbs by Ben Folds