Bibliomania
The original post of this essay appeared on 1standardeviation.com in 2023. Click on the link for a free read.
Harvard University tells us that its esteemed main library alone, in its system of dozens of libraries—Widener Memorial Library—has stacks of books accessible to those with appropriate ID that measure 57 miles of shelves. They house three million volumes, they say, and occupy ten levels on the five floors, plus subterranean spaces, that comprise the main building.
I have appropriate…