The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 29, July 10, 2005, Article 20

WHAT MAKES A LIBRARY?

Dave Kellogg writes: "I have many books on coins, but my
collection may not qualify as a numismatic library. How do
serious collectors describe a true library? Should books be
contained within a single room, a single bookcase or set of
cases? (Mine tend to move around the house as I peruse
or study them according to current interests.) Should there
be a catalog listing the library's contents? And what form
should a catalog take - just a bibliography or a brief outline
of each book's contents? Perhaps I am like many numismatists,
probably purchasing books as my interest in specific coin
types broadens. After years, a nice series of references builds
up, but does that make it a "library"? Then there are the fringe
topics, each important within its own classification, such as the
classics, historical novels, biographies, etc. Are they legitimate
portions of a numismatic library? Of course the answer is a
library is what the owner makes it, but what is the general
consensus, habit or convention of serious numismatic collectors?

[I would say that to be called a library, a collection of literature
must be organized in some fashion so that reference material
can quickly be found. A catalog is nice, but optional, and so
is having the library all in one room. I suppose there is some
sort of minimum number of books required before you could
call a collection of books a "library," but I have no idea where
to draw the line. I have about 3,000 volumes shelved in and on
about ten bookcases. But at one point I had just a shelf or two
of numismatic books. At what point did it become a "library"?

As for non-numismatic books, I shelf these alongside the
numismatic books they relate to - a book on the Gold Rush
would be shelved next to my books on private and pioneer gold,
for example. I certainly consider these tangential works to be
part of my library, but I recognize that others may not feel the
same. If I were to sell my library I would catalog these right
alongside the "proper" numismatic books, but they might be
a tough sell in the numismatic literature market. As you say,
to each their own.

What do our readers think? -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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