Wednesday, March 31, 2021

I Make Books

stories that I spin out in the mornings on my lap top before I head off to work at the library, 

there, where I check in books and pull books off the shelves for patron requests, bundles of books that I pass through our walk up window to children out walking their dogs through the park. Some days I weed books from the shelves, 

weeding--what librarians call culling the older books from the collection, the ones not checked out in a long while, the ones with the broken spines or loose pages. I'm always sad flipping through those books, wishing they could have more of a chance. And good news: some do end up in our Friends of the Library Book Sale, where they get another shot at being read and loved.  

And then it's home, to read books, 

the books of non-fiction essays I'm working my way through, the ones on the nightstand, stacked in the bathroom and piled on the end tables in the living room, the cookbooks and gardening books on the kitchen counter to flip through while I'm eating breakfast, whatever latest novel I'm reading. 

Lately, I am making tiny books for the miniature room I bought, a project to do with my daughter who likes puzzles. This was a total impulse buy. An ad on social media that kept popping up until I relented and bought it. (fun/sad fact: these ads work on me!) I bought two rooms, actually, a book room and a plant room. 

Oh, you should've seen my daughter and me spreading out the teeny tiny pieces, flipping through the thick instruction booklets, challenging each other to a competition-- Who could finish our micro room first? 

Cut to: it's three weeks later and my daughter has threatened to quit on more than one occasion. The itsy bitsy clipboard is what finally did her in. Meanwhile, I am plugging away on my book room. Building the bookshelves first, upholstering a chair (which took four hours and nearly killed me), a teeny vase of flowers, each bud needing to be glued and affixed to a stem the size of a pin. Until finally, 

I had to make the books! I followed the directions carefully to put together the first one, turned the instruction booklet page, and laughed out loud where it said: Make 140 more books. 

SO, I did that. 

Because that is what I do. 


teeny tiny pages


clipboard of doom


Almost finished room! 
(Note the chair that almost killed me)




6 comments:

  1. I love your tiny room (with the murderous chair) and the fact that you create books on so many levels!

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    1. Thanks, Yvonne. It's been a weirdly satisfying activity :)

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  2. If you were still at the bookstore, you could put this teeny tiny room in that little compartment below the front desk so everyone could enjoy your work!

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    1. I was just visiting Cover to Cover the other day and looked at those little book nooks. The books are a lot like the ones I made!

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  3. Patty has an idea there--maybe you could display it at the library, once people can come inside again.

    There's something oddly fascinating about miniatures.

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    1. This is such a good idea!! It's not finished yet (I'm still struggling mightily with the stupid lights), but when it is done, I can display it in our walk-up window!

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