Library News, by David W. Keeber
Red Rock News
Date: June 13, 2008
"Stop walking around with your head down!" This was a pretty common refrain from my mother when I was younger. "Look up, look up.! The whole world's passing you by and you're going to miss it if you keep looking at your feet." While these were sage words and I have taken them to heart, there are times to look down in order to learn more. Sedona Public Library's collection of Oversized books is the perfect example of how looking down will lead you to greater knowledge and understanding.
The Library's shelves are all set to a pretty regular spacing between them, but not all books are the same size. Therefore, whenever we add a book that is larger than the average item, we shelve it at the bottom of the appropriate shelf where it would otherwise be located.
Books are published in an oversized format because the subject matter deserves more "real estate" to do it justice. Examples would be books on art or photography. Sometimes, the design of a book just cannot be given a worthwhile treatment in a smaller format. It is a serious commitment on the part of a publisher to actually publish a book in such large format because the costs are higher, typically fewer people purchase them and even libraries find it difficult to justify their purchase because most people tend to overlook the oversized items.
Here are a few examples of stunning and interesting books published in oversized format that are currently on our shelves in the new book section. Just remember, there are oversized books throughout the entire collection so look around.
With a strikingly unusual cover designed to look like stone brick work, Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory, by Judith Dupre is well worth reading and viewing. Published in black and white images, Dupre examines national monuments from the Alamo to Gettysburg, from Mount Rushmore to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This tour de force of our nation's history told in the form of tributes to those who participated in that history, "it tells the stories of real people, the ordinary and the renowned, whose lives, though immortalized, exist most fully in the mind and heart." If offers stories, illustrations, interviews with artists and architects, as it tells the story of our nation written in stone.
One other reason for claiming a book as oversized is that the book is heavy! Phaidon Publishing has produced a massive tome entitled 30,000 Years of Art, as thorough and impressive a collection as one is likely to find between two covers of a book. Stunningly provided with photographs of the thousands of examples cited, it covers all cultures, both past and present, with an image of the artwork and its description, one per page. Offered in chronological order, it is a work of great importance because no other published item is as comprehensive. Take it home, but you may need a teenager to help you carry it!
The world is changing, both environmentally and politically, and one way to keep track of those changes is to refer to an atlas. The new Oxford Atlas of the World is as up to date as anything we own and well worth the look. The maps are clear and current based on political changes, but also includes stunning photography from space. The information within its covers is also updated providing a worthwhile reference.
Focusing more narrowly on only the oceans, National Geographic has published Planet Ocean: Voyage to the Heart of the Marine Realm. The introduction was written by Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques the famous oceanographer. This is more of a "coffee table book" full of photographs taken with the latest films and techniques. They bring out the wonder and mystery of the ocean depths, while informing and entertaining. The oceans face great challenges and the Cousteau family has made it their life's work to chronicle these, informing us of the impact we are all having on the largest and most vital resource on our planet.
Oversized books are well worth the look. You won't seem them on the higher shelves, though. Instead, keep your head down to find them throughout the Library. And if your Mom tells you to keep your head up, just show her what you are looking at. I am sure she will agree that this one time was well worth it!
