He was a cool man. She was a supportive wife. What made her especially unique was that she was a librarian at a higher learning facility. As a librarian, she had an influence on the titles the library shelves had. She was responsible for the library having many, many railroad titles. I made many visits to the library and saw firsthand if a book was worth purchasing! They usually were!
As all good things must end, they retired. A few years ago, I revisited the library, and to my dismay, ALL the exciting railroad titles and books were gone. They had been sold to the highest bidder! All her thoughtful work was gone. It is a shame people get old and new generations that do not share our rail interests take over!
Our Library had lots of train books, but then they de-acquisitioned most of the books (rail and otherwise) that were not of local/state interest. They put in computers for the patrons. The computers were popular for a while, but now most patrons use the free wifi on their phones. I guess if you want hard-to-find books, you go online to interlibrary loan.
MidlandMikeOur Library had lots of train books, but then they de-acquisitioned most of the books (rail and otherwise) that were not of local/state interest. They put in computers for the patrons. The computers were popular for a while, but now most patrons use the free wifi on their phones. I guess if you want hard-to-find books, you go online to interlibrary loan.
Dewey Decimal forever
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Our library had a nice collection of railroad books, many of which I had requested. I went in after the Covid lockdown and 80% were gone. I inquired and was told the library used COVID shutdown to purge unpopular books. I was incredulous...many of these books I repeatedly checked out and several books were recent additions.
I asked if the books were for sale and was told the volumes were donated to a firm in South Bend, in that collects "obsolete" books and then sells them, donating proceeds to libraries. I inquired to the firm and they wanted over $50 each for the books...no thanks.
BTW...wasnt just railroad books, the shelves were noticeably bare.
Ed
We had considerable turmoil here in our local library system that eventually cost the library's executive director, her job.
There had been strong misgivings among the staff over a strategic purge in materials, where the claimed objective was to "recalibrate to community needs", and I recall personally getting an earfull from disgruntled employees on several occasions when asking to have materials retrieved from storage.....them proposing that it would be a miracle if the material I was seeking managed to "survive" the realignment.
Somehow the gal they hired just a few years earlier to be Exec Director got the idea that modern tastes had changed and people no longer wanted to go to the library to conduct research, that instead they wanted to do "fun" things, such as checking out campling gear, kayaks, and other hard materials.
As the outrage went public, she was given one chance to defend herself, and her claims were that "research libraries" were the dominion of universities, while public libraries needed to stay in tune with evolving trends.
She was sent packing, and there was considerable involvement by the library board to engage the public (surveys, etc) before hiring her replacement.
No telling how badly the purge impacted what once was, to hear some staffers tell it, it felt like Fahrenheit 451 had come to life.
Times changing, not always for the better.
Several of the railroad related books I've enjoyed there have been taken out of open circulation, and placed in the "Reference" section where they may no longer be checked out, must be read on site.
My uncle actually had a degree in Library Science. I talked to him once about it. Libraries are set up semi-scientifically. It seems like the OP's library could've had an overabundance of railroad books due to the librarian's spouse. Maybe they were pared down when they looked at how much room they took up vs how often they were checked out. Face it, railroads aren't that popular anymore. Just look at the average age at a trainshow. Go to your local Barnes & Noble. How many railroad books do they have? Probably zero.
BackshopMy uncle actually had a degree in Library Science. I talked to him once about it. Libraries are set up semi-scientifically. It seems like the OP's library could've had an overabundance of railroad books due to the librarian's spouse. Maybe they were pared down when they looked at how much room they took up vs how often they were checked out. Face it, railroads aren't that popular anymore. Just look at the average age at a trainshow. Go to your local Barnes & Noble. How many railroad books do they have? Probably zero.
Library's are one thing - the list of defunct bookstores is another.
Atlantic Books, discount chain on the East Coast, defunct as of 2012B. DaltonBorders Books and Music / Brentano's - closed all locations in 2011Coles...The Book PeopleCrown Books / SuperCrown - closed all locations in 2001Davis-Kidd BooksellersEncore BooksFamily Christian Stores - closed all locations in 2017Frys Electronics - closed all locations in Feb. 2021Hastings Entertainment - closed all locations in Oct. 2016Kroch's and Brentano'sMedia PlayOxford Bookstore, offline chain of bookstores in the U.S.Waldenbooks
Personally, I would spend time browzing in both B. Dalton and Waldenbooks during visits to the mall.
I remember Borders, Brentanos, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks.
Our local Borders was a fun place to browse and shop. If you didn't find anything that day it was fun for a silent giggle at the staffers with purple hair and nose rings!
When they were closing for good I asked one of the staffers "What happened?" and he told me the company hired a CEO with an impressive resume' but who knew NOTHING about the book business or retail in general. By the time the board of directors caught on the disaster was irreversable. So much for the theory of the "interchangeable executive."
Brentano's, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks I have no idea what killed them. Barnes & Noble and Books A Million are still around locally and are doing pretty well.
As far as railbooks are concerned they're probably leaving them to the specialists, if you don't know the railbook market it's probably one to stay away from unless you're looking at titles like "Great Trains Of..."
Interestingly, one used book dealer told me that the railbooks he takes in only last "30 seconds" on the shelf, they fly right out as fast as Civil War books and books on the Titanic, both hot sellers.
One last thing. My late brother-in-law Jack worked for Tower Records and Books in the books division. Tower crashed and burned as well, according to Jack it was overexpansion that killed them. We had a Tower here locally for a while and it was a nice place.
The best places now to find book treasures of any type are the independently owned used book stores. They're generally located not far from college campuses, and going in you'll find organized confusion.. books piled high everywhere and an ageing hippie running the place. I've found so many great books at these types of places. My best purchases to date were Jack London original first additions from a store in Pasadena, CA.. all in good shape.. sold for peanuts! Most of my train books come from the used book stores as well.
The problem with Border's is that they sold their online site to Amazon so that they could support their brick and mortar stores...kinda backwards. We have a few really good used book stores here in the Detroit area but my favorite closed a few years ago when the owner died. It was the only one that was organized. When I was in New Zealand, I found a great one, right near the naval dockyard in Devonport. It had large railroad and military history sections. What made it great was that most of the selections were from UK/AU/NZ, so a lot of stuff you can't find in the US.
If anyone happens to go to the Chesterton, In railcam (on NS mainline) there is an outstanding used bookstore O'Mara Booksellers just across the main street, due south of the railcam. He has a very strong collection of used books and seems to make a market in railroad books.
One can also use the ILL (Inter Loan Library) to request books. I have used it several times.
Finally, the Barriger libary on campus of UMSL is an amazing collection. I could spend a week in there...seriously. Anyone else gone there? Ed
There's an absolutely incredible used bookseller in West Chester PA called Baldwin's Book Barn. FIVE floors of books of various titles and from the 18th Century forward. Believe me, You could lock me in there for the rest of my life and I'd never be bored.
Oh, Baldwin's isn't the place for railbooks, it's one of the "30 second" places I mentioned, unless you're there at the right time. Anything else, you'll be amazed.
Easily found with an on-line search.
Which used bookstore in the Detroit area? I lived in Farmington Hills 1990-2017, except for an eight month stay in New Mexico. Was it King's? I bought at least one Lucius Beebe book at their Ferndale store. When I went back later to get the other ones, they had been sold.
Flintlock76... Brentano's, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks I have no idea what killed them. Barnes & Noble and Books A Million are still around locally and are doing pretty well. ...
...
Books-A-Million has closed two of the three locations I used to visit them.
BaltACDBooks-A-Million has closed two of the three locations I used to visit them.
You should have bought more magazine subscriptions!
the BAM near me used to have an awesome used Manga section. But then they stopped getting stuff in, and mixed it with the new stuff. Haven't been there much since.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Fr.Al Which used bookstore in the Detroit area? I lived in Farmington Hills 1990-2017, except for an eight month stay in New Mexico. Was it King's? I bought at least one Lucius Beebe book at their Ferndale store. When I went back later to get the other ones, they had been sold.
zugmann BaltACD Books-A-Million has closed two of the three locations I used to visit them. You should have bought more magazine subscriptions! the BAM near me used to have an awesome used Manga section. But then they stopped getting stuff in, and mixed it with the new stuff. Haven't been there much since.
BaltACD Books-A-Million has closed two of the three locations I used to visit them.
Two of the locations were separated by about 25 miles in Florida. The other one was in Maryland. Only one of the Florida locations was still open as of February 2022.
zugmannthe BAM near me used to have an awesome used Manga section.
The BAM near me doesn't have a used book section at all, of any titles.
However, the Barnes & Noble in Paramus NJ has a BIG used book department of all titles, in fact it's the only B&N I've seen with a used book section. I'm not 100% sure if they've got used Manga selections. Since Manga doesn't interest me I've never looked. They probably do, they've got everything else. Their used history section occupies shelving that's at least 50 feet long and six feet high. They've got a pretty good Transportation section but the "30 second" railbook thing applies there too.
I went to the original Borders in Ann Arbor, Mich. in the early 90s. I couldn't believe how big the chain grew in a few years, and then how the were bankrupt in just a few years later.
Davis-Kidd in Laurelwood (east Memphis) downsized itself and reopened. To my knowledge it's doing just fine (and is the last local place reliably carrying Trains and MR)
Things change and we keep pressing on. Look at Navy ships.
Ships of WWII like the Iowa class battleships, the Baltimore class heavy cruisers, the Alaska class heavy cruisers, etc., all were elegant ships that looked like they meant business, just like the steam locomotives of the day. But they, too, were replaced by something much plainer-looking but even more powerful.
We are grateful for all that once was, and we press on.
The Navy ships that I am most fond of right now are the Wasp LHD class and America LHA class because to my eye they bear the closest resemblance to the Essex class aircraft carriers of Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and Admiral Spruance's Fifth Fleet.
kgbw49 Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and Admiral Spruance's Fifth Fleet.
Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and Admiral Spruance's Fifth Fleet.
With two completely different ways of doing things. Halsey's staff was much bigger than Spruance's. One made the headlines and the other just got things done. Taffy 3 probably kept Halsey from being relieved.
UlrichThe best places now to find book treasures of any type are the independently owned used book stores. They're generally located not far from college campuses, and going in you'll find organized confusion
There's something to be said for places with a "Looks like a bomb went off in here!" ambiance, sometimes they're where you find the best buys!
John King's store in Detroit can be a good source for railroad books. They have a fairly big section. They used to have some of the fragile items in another section and you had to ask. I filled out my collection of the old Railroad Man's pulp magazines from their back room not available to the general browser. They have the usual collection of some of the really bad books that were probably left there after the owner passed away and the relatives disposed of their collection. As in the cheap Bonanza reprints and the ultimate of bad railroad books - Yonder Comes The Train (3 copies last I looked). You'll see that type sitting on the shelves visit after visit. If you stop in often enough, they'll eventually get some new unique additions. I'm sure these would not be for most fans, but I just purchased two unique hard cover books in great shape with intact dust jacket covers that that probably only had a limited run - Slow Train to Paradise which is a study of 19th century Dutch investment in U.S. railroads and Lawyering For The Railroad which is a study of how railroad law was done in the southern U.S. Admittedly, not for everyone, but an example of unique titles that you can occasionally find at Kings. And at a reasonable price. It is worth an occasional stop to see what they have.
Happened to be at Powell Books in Portland,OR less than a month ago. Pretty thin pickins.
Library/ archives collections get pretty weird. The library special collections people at the University of Iowa still need shot/hung/tortured to death over what they did to their Rock Island special collection.
CSSHEGEWISCH kgbw49 Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and Admiral Spruance's Fifth Fleet. Same ships, alternating commanders.
Yes indeed! 24 Essex class constructed. Incredible.
kgbw49 CSSHEGEWISCH kgbw49 Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and Admiral Spruance's Fifth Fleet. Same ships, alternating commanders. Yes indeed! 24 Essex class constructed. Incredible.
Most of them continued in service into the early 1970's as anti-submarine carriers (CVS).
CSSHEGEWISCHMost of them continued in service into the early 1970's as anti-submarine carriers (CVS).
USS Lexington CV-16, the old "Blue Ghost," lasted until 1991 as a carrier qualification training ship homeported at Pensacola FL. She's now a museum ship in Corpus Christi TX, a VERY honorable retirement for a great ship!
A US Navy WW2 vet I worked with years ago told me he stashed a Thompson submachine gun in one of the compartments. I wonder if it's still there?
At some point not too long from now, I will have a lot of RR books to sell.
Has anyone here dealt with a used book dealer they'd recommend?
Still in training.
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