Wednesday 22 January 2014

Personal Libraries

Noreen

A book club friend was lending me a book from her personal library.  Noreen is a kind, suppportive and intuitive friend.  She offers advice, books or prayers when she senses they are needed.  After a book club discussion that focused on man's inhumanity to man, she recommended a book by Leo Buscaglia.  I had quite forgotten that author.  In fact, he died in 1998.  But Noreen knows that I dislike focusing on violence.  And I appreciated being reminded of this wacky, wonderful author/lecturer.  I searched out my copy of "Living, Loving and Learning" when I got home.  And I listened to his lectures on the internet.  A wonderful return for me to the more gentle aspects of life.

       
Leo Buscaglia













While searching through Noreen's personal library, I mentioned that you can learn a lot about a person by looking at their personal library.  She agreed. She has a large collection.  
  Once when she had overnight guests, she positioned a stack of books beside the bedside lamp of each guest with books of a particular interest to that guest.  What a personal, thoughtful idea.
  She has given many, many boxes of books, written for children and adolescents, to the Home Schooling Association.  She also was delighted when the local school accepted her offer of books.
  Over the years, Noreen has had dozens of biographies because she loves learning about individuals and how they were motivated in life. 
  She has thinned out her collection of cook books but still has more than needed.
  Since she was in the nursing field, Noreen developed a large collection of nursing books and has donated them to several long term care facilities.  Two of those institutions had no reference books at all and Noreen felt that they were important for quick reference and could make better and safer patient care.
  Books on religion, philosophy and history have gone to the church library.
  These donations make it less painful to part with important books.
  Noreen's personal library is certainly a reflection of her many interests and her generous spirit.


No comments:

Post a Comment