The Second Life of Library Books

My colleagues & I attended the staff preview of the annual NLB Book Sale 2008 yesterday afternoon.

For some of us, it has become an annual ritual but I was hesitant about making yet another trip to Singapore Expo to rummage through piles of old books in hope of finding something worthy of my book shelves back home because:

· I have NOT read all the old books bought at previous Book Sales. In fact, they are gathering dust in a corner book shelf and I have wondered what I should do with them.

· NOTHING would have changed from the Book Sales of previous years.

o Same Expo convention hall
o Same book bins
o Same bunch of staff & volunteers
o Same selections of books
o Same shopping list for me
o Same payment method
o Same way home (by cab, due to the large number of impulse buys)
o Same feeling of post-shopping regrets.

But there I was, in a train full of backpackers, flight stewardesses and families with luggages en route to Changi Airport, on a hot Thursday afternoon, pondering if I was making that trip on an impulse.

The push factors for going, were:

The price was too good to overlook: $2 per book and $5 per bag of magazines.

It was an occasion to catch up with colleagues, especially those whom I have not met for some time.

There was a possibility of finding rare gems in the piles of books.

It would be an opportunity to ‘adopt’ some of these books and to give them a new lease of life in my home (even if they sit of my shelves instead of being disposed of in some other manner).

It was that last reason which convinced me to put aside my doubts for I am a collector and have never thrown away a single book of mine (barring school text books). I believe the books I choose deserve a second lease of life after their years of public service.

I arrived at Expo Hall 4A about 4.40pm, and I found my colleagues at the Young People’s English Non-Fiction section, sifting through the piles for History books for our boss, GT, who was unable to come due to a 5pm meeting. GT had asked us to look out for history books from the Dorling-Kindersley (DK) series.

As we browsed the book bins together, we chatted, joked, laughed and recommended books to each other. For instance, DL was the sole bachelor (involved in a long distance relationship) in our group and he was the butt of all mock recommendations revolving around topics like:
· Dating
· Grooming
· Unplanned pregnancies
· Reproduction
· Travel guides on China (where his girlfriend hails from)

On occasions where we split up to browse different sections, I would bump into someone from another department and we would chat briefly along the aisles.

By the time I finished shopping at 6pm – which was also the closing hour for the Book Sale preview – I had 15 books in my basket, half of which were Children’s fairy tales for me to read to my daughter, a couple of Young People’s non-ficition history titles and several Adult non-fiction titles on various topics.
The tab?

Fifteen used books: $30

Taxi fare home: $10

Giving 15 good books a second lease of life: priceless.