A Distributed Library

To make sure not to mislead my readers for too long, in particular the programmers among them, I insist in specifying that the topic is a library made of shelves and books (remember those bunches of paper?). The idea of this essay is to explain, mostly for my own benefit but maybe for that of others, one of the interests of collecting books. Personally, I love books and, although appreciate wikipedia for what it is, I think no electronic medium can overcome the joy of possessing an extensive book collection. Once in a while, I go on a book buying spree and, although some of them have been sitting on my shelves unread, I think this habit of mine is very useful. For one thing, I read fairly slowly and, sometimes, I like to put a book back in the shelf without finishing it. For those reason, if the book is good enough, it is very beneficial to own it. On the other hand, I like to see myself as a node in a distributed library. Whenever I invite people over at my place, one of the things he or she will see is my collection of books and, sometimes, they get interested in one or two of them and bring them home to see if they like it or if they can learn something from it. It can be viewed as a means of propaganda but also as a means for education. Indeed, I think it is very convenient to be able to educate each other in an informal way and being part of a distributed library seems like an efficient way to do so. Simon Hudon July 12th, 2009 Zürich