On Personal Libraries

I appreciate Jamie Smith’s recent reflection on building our personal libraries and how we come to view them differently as we get older. I know I think differently about my book collection now than I did ten years ago, when I was in my mid-twenties. And I’m sure my relationship with the books on my shelves will continue to change as the years go by.

As Smith writes, when we are young we build our libraries in hope, feeling that we have all the time in the world to read everything we want to, not to mention everything we think we should. Sooner or later, though, Smith notes, we come to a realization: “I will die with books unread on my shelf. So be it. The grass withers, the flowers fade, the pages become mildewed and musty. So too will I. Even those unread books are a sign of aspiration, ambition, hope. I’ll die reading. I trust there are libraries in the kingdom.”