In Wellington they’re weeding books – what a term. Words are not beasts. There’s no need to cull. Nurture and grow and build instead – create space for them and that creates need. If you’re gonna talk gardens how about watering with thought all of the people craving knowledge; leave books in the places where they should be – build more sheds to house them and watch them take root. What’s the worst that could happen? You could create some new jobs. What’s the worst that could happen? A few more researchers are able to keep up. What’s the worst that could happen? Books galore and more and more
and suddenly we’re interested in something beyond profit-margins; that alone is reason to invest. Albeit ironically. We need a way to move past profit and loss. We need a home for the things that matter – and not more measurements for if and when and how they matter in any financial sense. In second-hand bookstores every customer is grateful. They almost completely cannot believe their luck. They are finding something they believed lost to time. They are finding something they believed no longer existed. That’s something special. I’ve been there to see their faces. I’ve had my face do the dance of joy upon discovery. Just
last week I found a book I was sure was long gone and forever buried. I rushed right home and read it twice. That special way with a book is something we need to teach forever. We need people to know what it’s like to hold words. To have that power in their hands as it transfers through body to mind and soul. That’s a process that needs no weeding, no pruning, there’s always something magical in a book. Just take a look!