This is more of a 'looking' book than a reading book, but I thought it fit nicely with the book mentioned below. It was a gift from California Reader and one I return to at least once a year just to look at the pictures. For the Love of Libraries: a Book of Postcards is filled with striking black and white photographs and anecdotes by Diane Asseo Griliches about all kinds of libraries from around the world.

Improbable Libraries: a Visual Journey to the World's Most Unusual Libraries, by Alex Johnson is also a 'looking' book. Take an armchair tour around the world to see all the odd places where libraries are found. Libraries are found on camels, boats, and buses. They hang from trees, or are stuffed into very small spaces. Some are in new and oddly shaped buildings, some in old houses. Some patrons even arrive by surfboard. Be sure to check out how books are displayed from the back of a donkey!

I've always had a fondness for Thomas Jefferson. He was a reader and a musician. He loved to collect books and had several libraries during his lifetime. Read all about this reader in Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library, by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by John O'Brien. I love the illustrations of books everywhere! The author's notes at the end provide additional details, don't skip them. ;-)

The Library Book: the Story of Libraries from Camels to Computers, by Maureen Sawa and illustrated by Bill Slavin was a wonderful discovery! I loved this book! While technically a juvie book, there is a lot of information here, such as when books became books in the form we know today, just how the first printing press worked, and for a chuckle (and a shudder) early forms of punishment for lost, stolen and overdue books.

For more books about books see the post for August 2, 2014. Find When Books Went to War on the February 21, 2015 post.

Reading Hermit With Dog