Friday, July 20, 2012

Talking Books at the Library



Two library talks down and one left to go next week! It’s been a very interesting experience  so far, but I’m not sure what to conclude from it, so I guess I’ll tell you about it and perhaps gain some insight in the process. I had planned the first talk with the emphasis on book collecting with ephemera as the secondary topic, but as soon as the first two people walked into the room my entire plan went up in a puff of smoke. The small crowd – about half a dozen people – did not collect either books OR ephemera, nor did they plan to! So why were they there, you might ask. I asked myself that very question as I took a deep breath and winged it. All I can say is it’s a good thing I’m a prolific talker or I would have been toast.

I had brought a ton of ephemera and a handful of carefully chosen books, so at least there were props to fall back on, but right out of the gate one couple in particular asked surprisingly insightful questions about the future of books and how the internet has affected book prices. Both had dabbled in books and paper over the years, but are older now and have no plans to take it up again. Like ALL of the audience, they’d come to my program for one reason and one reason only – they love library programs! First of all, library programs are free and, secondly, they often focus on oddball stuff, so an evening spent learning about something new trumps TV any night in the week. It’s also important to note that with the exception of one thirty-something and one forty-something (both women) the 60-plus age bracket ruled.

Interestingly enough though,  the gap between young and old was not as huge as you might expect. Though the younger ones probably read more, they were reading new books (the subject of Fifty Shades of Gray even arose)! But  one did perk up when I discussed vintage magazines and the other mentioned that she’d impulsively bought a scrapbook from the 20’s filled with gardening articles. Of course two people’s experiences are not enough to help me reach any meaningful suppositions, but both do speak to the trend I saw at the 2011 antiquarian book and paper show  when young people were the ones  snapping up my ephemera items. I’m not sure I can say that the evening made any significant impact on the audience, but everybody had fun and so did I.
That being said, I happily went off to my second talk last night, this time in a less affluent area, but certainly not an impoverished one. I showed up with the same heavy box of props and great enthusiasm, only this time with  no agenda. Forget that original talk I’d so carefully planned!  If needed, I’d dust it off, otherwise I’d ad lib.  The audience was slightly bigger, but there wasn’t a young person to be found -- EVERYONE was 60-plus. One couple considered themselves more amassers than collectors, but did feel that perhaps they had some books and postcards which might have value, so we talked a bit about the dispersal of a collection. On the flip side though one of the older women in the group still actively collected paper and had no intention of stopping. She figured that she’d taken care of her kids a lot of years so they could take care of “a little paper” of hers someday! Another woman  seriously collected glass, but asked questions about the collectibility of Pearl Buck and old cookbooks. At last -- some traction!

But even those who were not collectors were internet savvy and enjoyed learning about ephemera, some of which brought back memories. We even talked about collecting it forward instead of backwards. Every day ephemera comes into our homes – most of it not worthy of being kept, but some of it surprisingly worthy. Of course due to age none of them would reap any financial benefit from doing it, but they still seemed to like the idea of hanging on to the printed word for future collectors.  The concern for the future of the written word -- both printed AND handwritten -- was universal in this group. Not only did they understand that it was in jeopardy, but also knew exactly what forces threatened it and what the impact might be for future generations. In summation, it was a smart, fun group which rocked and rolled in Mogadore!

I still have one talk left to give, but instead of expecting more of the same, I’m once again finding myself reluctant to predict anything. The upcoming area is urban whereas the other two were not, and has a reputation for being an “arty” place, both factors which could possibly  skew results in some unknown way. I’ll report back after it’s done, but for now I’d say  that despite the small attendance and the fact that I reached very few younger people (and not all the many older ones) I’m still glad I did it.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What does the note mean:
Shotgun on my chest guy.
Is that a book or comment on the world today? Military vs Passion?

Glad it went well. You have a lot to offer the people at the library.

Anonymous said...

Tess, I left a comment this morning. I wonder if you got it. I think you did a marvelous job on these talks, and would love to see you give one. Have fun with them. I am reading the Vermont book now and loving it as you knew I would. Mailing package to you tomorrow. gin

tess said...

This is so funny! I couldn't imagine how you knew about the book "Shotgun on My Chest-- the Adventures of a Lewis and Clark Collector." I read the blog twice looking for it and there it was in the notes on the pictue. You sure have an eagle eye!!! The reason I wrote that is because this guy, a man of modest means, leveraged his credit cards and his house to buy Lewis and Clark stuff he couldn't afford. But he cashed in before the recession hit and made a killing. Nothing to do with the military!

tess said...

Sorry to be slow. I was at the Irish music festival all day. I am delighted you like the Vermont book. I loved it! Hmmm -- what could you be sending me? I send things to YOU!

Saturday Evening Post said...

Back in the fifties, audio books for the blind were called "talking books". I thought for a moment that was your subject. But it wasn't. Carry on.

SEP

tess said...

I actually had heard that and so that was the pun. What a clever guy you are!:-)

Anonymous said...

And I thought it was the new audio small ipod type books. With a husband who is blind and cannot read due to a brain injury, I am TOO familiar with TALKING BOOKS, but loved the way you used the language in your title.

tess said...

Thanks for posting. I knew that term from when I worked in sales and marketing at a nursing home. We had a lovely blind resident at the assisted living building who lived for her "talking books" which she got in the mail from a society for the blind. I used to change casettes for her if I was going by when she needed them done. I have never heard it again since that time, but it popped in my head when I was looking for a title.