The story of how I offered my book to every library in Connecticut

The first five libraries that I visited were very local, and I visited them when convenient, usually on my way to or from something. I wasn’t making much progress at that rate. Connecticut has 169 towns, and 165 of them have libraries. Even if I visited one per week, it would take me over three years to visit them all.

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If I had stayed with my original plan to visit libraries in decreasing proximity to my house, I’d be driving back and forth, across where I live, and that would be a lot of time spent driving. It made more sense that, after I had visited a library, my next library would be in an adjacent town. The driving time from one library to the next was anywhere between 10 and 25 minutes, depending on the size of the towns.

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So, I took a vacation day, put a ton of books in the backseat, a box of doughnuts in the front seat, and I headed out. Once I got into the groove, I was averaging about half an hour per library. I hit my first library at noon, and I decided to take a beeline away from my house. It was summer, and most of the libraries closed at 8:00, so I was astounded at how far I could get. Geez, I could hit the New York state border and then maybe head north. Then I realized time wasn’t my only constraint, when I saw my phone (and hence my GPS) was at about 6% remaining charge. (Note to self: Bring a phone charger for the car. But first: Buy a phone charger for the car.) I returned home. The phone lasted long enough to get me to where I knew where I was. Whew. That first run, I’d visited 8 libraries.

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I learned some things. When I donate a book to a library and they accept it, they don’t necessarily add it to their collection. Librarians will ask me if I want the book back if they don’t add it to their collection. If the library is close to home, I will, but usually the library is far enough away that going there again to pick it up isn’t worthwhile. In this case, I will allow the library to sell it. Sometimes they sell it in their annual retired book sale. I’m okay with this, because if they sell it, then I have still contributed something to the library, and also that means someone bought it and will presumably read it. Some libraries have sold Xylene online. I’ve bought back a couple of my own books this way. It’s cheaper per book than having more printed. (I try not to think about the implications.)

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I also learned that libraries all have online databases of their collections. So I can look up my book to see if the library has added it to their collection. I’m glad I didn’t do this right away, because the answer would have been quite discouraging. Only one out of the first 5 libraries added Xylene to their collection. On that first run of 8 libraries, only two added it to the collection. If I’d known that, I might have called it quits.

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I also learned that, not only do libraries keep their books in a database, there are databases that unite many libraries. I can go to the Guilford library, who doesn’t have my book, and make them order it from Wallingford, who does. In Connecticut, there are three major online catalogues: Bibliomation, LCI (for Library Connections Inc.) and LION (For Libraries Something). Here’s where this is relevant: Suppose a library belongs to the Bibliomation club. When I donate a book to them, they look it up. First, if it is there at all, that’s a shortcut for the librarian. They only have to check a box that says, “Yeah, we have it, too.” The first librarian who puts Xylene in the database has to do all the work. The other factor is every library who has added Xylene to their collection has, in a small way, advocated for my book. So my chance of success increases.