{"id":6914,"date":"2022-05-20T17:13:28","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T17:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=6914"},"modified":"2023-05-26T22:23:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T22:23:22","slug":"a-peek-inside-durhams-little-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2022\/05\/20\/a-peek-inside-durhams-little-libraries\/","title":{"rendered":"A peek inside Durham’s little libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve long believed that browsing through someone\u2019s bedside pile of books\u00a0 \u2014 the stack that they are \u201cgoing to get to\u201d \u2014\u00a0 is more revealing than reading their emails. You find out who they are\u2026 and who they want to be. (It wasn\u2019t too long ago that my bedside-pile was a blend of French existentialists and the entire <\/span>That Boy <\/span><\/i>series \u2014 <\/span>That Boy<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>That Wedding<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>That Baby<\/span><\/i>.) Lately I\u2019ve concluded that Durham\u2019s little libraries are our communal night stands.<\/span><\/p>\n

So let\u2019s get nosy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll start in Morehead Hill on Vickers Avenue, where the creak of a rusty hinge and faint scent of mildew mingling with that sitting-in-the-stacks-during-finals book smell announces the opening of this box of stories. The catalog is eclectic to say the least.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Adam Schiff, the congressman from California, is sharing a shelf with Catherine Hart, author of steamy not-so-historically-accurate romance novels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schiff\u2019s <\/span>Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could<\/span><\/i> and Hart\u2019s <\/span>Summer Storm<\/span><\/i> both promise drama, but of a very different sort. The jacket of <\/span>Midnight in Washington <\/span><\/i>says<\/span>,<\/span><\/i> \u201cIf there is still an American democracy fifty years from now, historians will be very grateful for this highly personal and deeply informed guide to one of its greatest crises.\u201d<\/span> Summer Storm <\/span><\/i>is also, um, highly personal, promising a \u201ctumultuous joining\u201d that \u201cwould be climaxed in a whirlwind of ecstasy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are only three other books in the Vickers library \u2014 two recent(ish) mysteries and Robert Louis Stevenson\u2019s <\/span>Treasure Island<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you are worried about your immortal soul after all that romantic rapture and death o\u2019 democracy, I suggest you swing by the little library in the 1100 block of Woodburn Road, which has a robust spiritual collection. The books include <\/span>Pleasing God, Peace with God<\/span><\/i> and two copies of <\/span>The Case for Christ<\/span><\/i>. You\u2019ll also find\u00a0 Cornelia Nixon\u2019s decidedly-not-religious <\/span>Angels Go Naked: A Novel in Stories.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

If books about God aren\u2019t your speed, you might want to stop by the little library outside McMannen United Methodist Church on Neal Road \u2014 sure, you\u2019ll find <\/span>Bible Stories for Special Times, <\/span><\/i>and one for kids about how <\/span>God Made Nature<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 But mostly there are thrillers, romances, and good mom-book-club-reads like <\/span>The Last Bookshop in London<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The trashy-churned-out-thrillers from James Reich, James Patterson, and Clive Cussler are coupled with books by New York Times best selling authors written to be deep, and\u2026 to be New York Times best sellers. There\u2019s Matt Haig\u2019s <\/span>How to Stop Time<\/span><\/i>, which, according to its front cover, is \u201ca great summer read.\u201d There\u2019s <\/span>The Small Backs of Children<\/span><\/i> which, according to the Los Angeles Times is \u201ca tour de force,\u201d and according to an Amazon reviewer, is \u201cjust trying way too hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My survey found only one author whose books were seen in nearly every box: James Patterson. That\u2019s not surprising, since Patterson <\/span>has published more than 200 novels<\/span><\/a>, but his presence, in tattered paperback and the occasional hardcover, was still impressive. Could you read his entire Alex Cross series by going from tiny library to tiny library? Perhaps.<\/span><\/p>\n

My last stop is the biggest of the little libraries I\u2019ve seen and as I try to peruse, I find myself struggling to unlatch the door. But the prize I find inside is well worth the struggle. It\u2019s the screenplay for <\/span>Shakespeare in Love<\/span><\/i>. For the first time I am not just <\/span>tempted<\/span><\/i> to take a book, I do. I take it, and stash it in the book-strewn-backseat of my car.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I know my obligation and have come prepared. I return to the not-so-little library with something to leave: <\/span>The Easy College Air Fryer Cookbook: The Complete Guide with Simple, Affordable Air Fryer Recipes for Campus Life.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Take a book. Leave a book. Add <\/span>Shakespeare in Love<\/span><\/i> to the pile that sits by my bed and taunts me. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve long believed that browsing through someone\u2019s bedside pile of books\u00a0 \u2014 the stack that they are \u201cgoing to get to\u201d \u2014\u00a0 is more revealing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":6917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[30,44],"class_list":["post-6914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-durham","tag-art-and-culture","tag-books","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nA peek inside Durham's little libraries - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A tour of Durham's little libraries reveals a lot about what people read \u2013\u00a0and don't read \u2013 in the Bull City.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2022\/05\/20\/a-peek-inside-durhams-little-libraries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A peek inside Durham's little libraries - 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