I Earned My Degree In Libraries

I've been building a library for half a century. I still have the first book in my office/library - How To Win Friends And Influence People. You might think of it as the first textbook in my own private university of life.

At the age of eighteen, I made a choice to eschew university and went to work full time. Books became my most valuable tool of learning. Winning friends and developing a network of mentors helped me surround myself with professors from all walks of life. 

Libraries became my classrooms.

I have always preferred to own books, which is not to say I haven't checked out hundreds from libraries - I have. With books I am learning from, I like to underline sentences and eardog pages I want to return to. I also had a romantic notion that when guests visited, I would let them select a book and take it home with them if they liked it. Over decades, I would estimate fewer than five people ever took me up on the idea.

Now, as we contemplate a smaller home with no real space for a 'library', I came up with a novel (pun intended) way to give some away. We have what are known as 'Free Libraries' dotted around neighborhoods beside sidewalks. Some are simple structures, some works of art.

As I cycle through the streets, I frequently stop to peruse the books in these miniature libraries. If I see a book that captures my interest, I take it home. The next day, I bring three books from my library put them on the shelf to replace the one I have taken. So far I have four new books and have given away twelve. The four new books have all been wonderful. I doubt I would have sought any of them out - they just caught my attention. 

I wonder where all my books will end up?

This post made me think of my friend Bert Hesse. I met Bert when we moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1998. I was opening a new division for my agency and during the first year I was working from home (you guessed it, my first garage office - which was sort of prescient, since

I was building a division dedicated to NASCAR and motorsports 😉), but I digress.

Our first garage office. 🐅

I would spent one morning a week at the gorgeous SouthPark Library just for a change of scene. I noticed a guy there every morning reading the business newspapers on display, one day I asked him, "Are you one of the Microsoft millionaires?" He laughed, but later I learned that he was a tech entrepreneur who had built two companies, sold them both and now had the time to y'know, go to the library and read. 

Years later Bert told me this, "My success depends upon the books I read and the people I meet." That really rang a bell with me. I had been following that advice my whole life.  For the record, Bert won't take credit for the quotation. But hey, I heard it first from him, my blog, I'm giving him credit!

 

Books and mentors - any success I have I owe to them. One more thing for the record, don't skip the university experience.

I got lucky. Libraries. 

Love 'em.