Michael Hern
When you visit the well-run library in Sun Lakes Country Club, you might want to take a moment to stand in front of the librarian’s desk and look at the top of the bookcase directly behind the desk. There is a display of what appears to be the stereotypical librarian surrounded by books and a computer, which no doubt contains the Dewey Decimal System. The action figure, while looking like the librarian we all remember from our youth, is actually based on a real, quite remarkable person named Nancy Pearl.
I’ve always read books, and while living in the Seattle area for many years, I visited a large public library close to home. I had several authors I followed regularly and spent time wondering why these authors could only write one book a year. I had no idea what it took to write and publish a book.
One day, by chance, I was listening to PBS radio and Nancy Pearl, a noted librarian in the Seattle area, was discussing new books available at the library. She was articulate and clearly had a love and knowledge of books and authors. I followed her on the radio and learned to think of authors as real people with creative flairs but, most of all, with interesting stories to share with us.
Nancy Pearl is a published author, received the Librarian of the Year Award in 2011, and is the only librarian I’ve ever heard speak who makes the library sound like an exciting place to visit. She has a marvelous rule for getting people to read books outside the type of books we usually read. I have followed this rule faithfully, reading books written by authors whose names I can’t pronounce, living in countries and times I cannot visit, in circumstances and cultures I knew nothing about.
Here’s the rule: If you’re age 50, read the first 50 pages of a new book. By then, you’ll know if you like the story or not. If you’re over 50, subtract your age from 100 and read that number of pages. I have found that there are only a handful of books I returned unread out of hundreds.
Next time you visit us, if we happen to not have a book by your favorite author on hand, reach for another book and give it a try. It might surprise you.