LibraryThing

Aside from certain exceptions, most of us have a lot of books. And most of us organize them. When I helped Taylor move some things into the dorm at the College last summer, I noticed that he tended keep his series paperbacks arranged by publisher: Oxford's World Classics, Penguin Classics, etc. More recently they have been contently intermingled with the considerable collection of Mrs. Lydia Carr, but now strictly by alphabetical order. I must admit, I tend to agree. Though a certain visual appeal may be lost in having tall, handsome hardbacks next to tattered, thin paperbacks, I much prefer a book I own to have a place.* However, in contrast to Lydia, I like lots of subsections. With poetry, fiction, and drama, my books are arranged by nationality starting with the Greeks. Then I proceed alphabetically by author, except with British Isles authors, which are arranged chronologically, a habit I picked up from Anne Fadiman.

Online, it is quite different. Since September of last year, I have been cataloging my books with LibraryThing. Initially, I was interested in the site merely as a more bibliographically accurate and less commercial alternative to Amazon. As I spent more time with the site, I fell into tagging my books, and I have come to be quite impressed at how LibraryThing lets you see your books in a new light. Tag your books however you wish, and the resulting tagcloud immediately reveals quite a bit about your library. I knew, for instance, I favored the 20th century, but I didn't consciously realize how extensively. Nor did I realize just how many translations I had. But this is all old hat. The real reason I felt the need to share is because of the new feature, LibraryThing Local. As you can see in the previous link, old Arkansas is a little bare. But try Chicago or New York, and it's a different story. I think trips into the city just got a little more bookish.

*Footnote: [Strangely, this tendency hardly holds for books I borrow. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I have stacks of library books throughout the house. But even books from friends migrate from the couch to the armchair and back. Also, having a static place tends to be less true as the particular book departs from literature. My philosophy, theology, and reference books have a particular shelf but less consistent order. History books are often tucked away in the same leftover corners. Sorry, Kelly.]

UPDATE: 5pm March 15
LibraryThing Local exceeds 20, ooo venues. 6812 bookstores. 12721 libraries.