Old books are awesome

One of my favorite things to do is hang out in the archive area of libraries. Call it the scholar in me. I love the texture of old books in my hands and the smell of aged leather and parchment. I love having to squint to make out old handwriting by the original author or owner. I love the dust that gets stirred up opening books sealed for years. It makes my heart beat fast. I know - I'm pitiful. I found a story the brought excitement to my heart! A library of aged books at the New Orleans Theological Seminary Library sat for a long while unnoticed. Finally, someone wondered what they might have in their rare books and archives section so they hired a rare books expert and let her come take a look. WOW! They found treasures galore. Works by authors such as Ulrich Zwingli, Theordore Beza and Martin Luther. Some books had hand-written notes by Charles Spurgeon, a famous pastor from London. An unbelievable wealth of resources, this group of works survived Hurricane Katrina in plastic storage bins on the second floor of the library. It goes to show you, never toss out a book simply because it's old! Here's the link to the story.

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