When I was a kid, I remember being called a “bookworm” on more than one occasion. Last year I read an article that made me believe that the word doesn’t actually apply. Book worms burrow into books and make them their homes. While I read quite a bit and enjoy it, I think that the term “book dragon” is more apt. In stories, dragons sleep on top of vast piles of treasure they collect and hoard. I love books and collect them. I own far more books than I could reasonably read in my lifetime. When my wife and I visit a new city, we look for used bookstores to visit. We see a trip to a library sale as a fun day out. We are book fanatics.
Lorrie Merrill, who owns and operates the Mountaineer, asked me to consider writing about my love of books and where it came from. I can say with confidence that I grew up in a family of bibliophiles and learned to love the printed word throughout my childhood. As a child, I remember going to bookstores with my parents whenever we went out shopping. We went to used bookstores and book sales on weekends, spending hours perusing overstuffed shelves and collecting obscure titles like kids collect baseball cards. I read Robinson Caruso for the first time in elementary school while I was supposed to be doing my work. While other kids were reading Sports Illustrated, I had a subscription to Science Digest (in 4th or 5th grade I think). I began reading Steven King novels in Junior High (also when I was supposed to be paying attention in class). I began reading theology books as a freshman in High School. My parents read voraciously as well.
They also collected books by the ton (or so it seems now). I drove to Reno this week to pick up a carload of books. My father passed away in the last week of January. Years ago, he asked me if I wanted to inherit his library and after thinking about it for a few weeks, I said yes. I’ve brought 55 boxes of books home in the two loads I’ve moved and am only about halfway through the collection. Growing up, whenever the military would relocate us, I remember my parents discussing how many tons of their moving allotment would be taken up by the books. Dad literally owned tons of books covering a broad range of subjects from history, to math, to management, science, novels, philosophy, theology, military tactics, literature, writing, and almost any other topics you can conjure up. My collection is just about as varied as his.
My book dragon ways obviously came from my parents. The next question is why? Why are we so drawn to collect books? I think the answer also comes from my family’s culture. I think it started with the value my parents placed on learning and education. My dad had 6 Masters Degrees. He also placed a premium on learning as much as he could about any subjects that caught his interest. I am not likely to catch up with him in terms of degrees earned. However, whenever I find anything that fascinates me or I come up with a question I want to know the answer to, learning about it becomes almost compulsive. This doesn’t necessarily mean reading whole books, though sometimes it does. Usually I pick up books and read chapters or sample the material using the index as a guide. I learned to index read books from my father, who would do the same thing when hunting for more information on a topic.
Another reason for my dragon tendencies arises from something my brother told me a few years ago. He was talking about how he tried to find everything interesting. He is also a broad reader, with a tendency toward sampling a little from every area he encounters. While going through books in my first load from Reno, I realized that my dad would read up on subjects I studied in school or was interested in. We would talk about those things, and he would learn about them. He found something interesting in whatever interested us. He read voraciously to learn about those things. I suspect the tendency to find the world around me fascinating came from being raised by people who lived that way.
Though I could go on for pages and pages about why we are book dragons, I expect space in the paper wouldn’t allow me to do so. However, I think there is definitely one last realization I had about my father, and fellow book dragon, that fits. Dad loved helping other people learn. He would give books to people studying a topic or share what he knew. This week, my sister told me that after mom died, dad spent a lot of time talking with people from the church and his career. He answered questions, pointed others to resources, and helped anyone who wanted to learn. She told me that members of the church would visit to ask questions and that he was invited to Bible studies by folks who knew he would be able to fill in any blanks they might find. Whenever I was struggling studying sermon material or researching a topic, he would tell me what titles to get or discuss the history surrounding the topic. I will confess that this is one of the great joys in life for me as well. Helping others learn or grow in understanding are a source of joy in life. I get excited when I talk about different subjects, tell stories, or unpack big ideas. I think that maybe it is such a blessing because in doing those things I am acting like my dad.
Having a proper hoard of books is vital for all of these things. You cannot learn without resources. Books give you new ground to explore and learn. Finally, having more resources to dig into means that you can search and answer questions. Dad’s library was a treasure for him, because it helped him learn, explore, and help others do the same. I am blessed to add it to my own treasure pile. I hope and pray to raise my own book dragons, who will explore the world God made.
