My collection of books is getting... well... difficult to control. In a small, college town apartment (Bowling Green, Ohio doesn't offer the posh real estate one might expect) with a roommate and three cats, space is limited. I have managed to fit two rather large bookcases into my bedroom (who needs space to walk, really?), but I still have to shuffle around my desk chair, golf clubs, and a cat or two when I'm searching for a specific book. The other night, I decided that I had had enough. I purged the shelves of their books entirely, categorized them, and organized them into genres, eventually labeling them with Post-it notes. Perhaps this is an early warning sign that my career as a librarian is going to carry dangerously into my home life - Brett, be warned - but I'm just so gosh darn proud of them. I think its the only thing in my apartment that is neatly compartmentalized.
Now that that's out in the open, I'm not nearly as embarrassed to announce that this afternoon, my friend Monica and I decided we wanted to make bookmarks. When you think about it, your bookmark is the first thing you see when you sit down to read, and often the last before you close it. You lay it down on the table in the library or in class, hold it out for everyone to see on the bus. Does it make you a less dedicated reader to use a receipt or an old candy bar wrapper, rather than a "real" bookmark? I'm not sure. But Monica and I decided we didn't want to take any chances.
And so we spread out on the living room floor surrounded by all of my craft supplies (let your imagination run wild here), patiently turning index cards into masterpieces. My favorite is my double-sided project:
The first side is one of my favorite quotes, by Shel Silverstein. The other side, well, speaks for itself. The pink in the background is my yoga mat. I am, quite obviously, a big fan of all that is pink and/or kitchy.
According to my research, bookmarks have been sold since the medieval period. They have developed, changed, and become more widely available at basically the same rate as printed books themselves. The bookmarks that we know today (small, detatched, and "collectible") came about in the 1850's. For quite some time they were used widely by companies for advertising, and it is only within the last hundred years or so that fashionable, collectible, and themed bookmarks have become widely popular. Now they can be made with plastic, cardboard, paper, silk, fabric, or even silver and gold. Or, if you're like me, with robots.
Our work with bookmarks today made me wonder - do the little things really effect the overall reading experience? Are we more likely to get involved with or truly involve a story if we are someplace warm, dry, and quiet? If we have a pair of loving robots greeting us every time we open our books, to begin the experience with a positive attitude, will that chapter go differently than if we had used a McDonalds receipt to mark the page? What do you think? Do the details of the reading experience matter, or the book the only important variable?
I think that the little things do matter to an extent. Often times, nothing sounds better to me than a warm and snuggly place with a good book. Granted the good book is a key variable, I do enjoy a comfortable setting as well. I find that I concentrate much better and can retain more if I'm comfy. As far as the bookmarks go, I just think their sweet. And they add character which I love.
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