The End of an Era

Last Wednesday sort of marked the end of an era.  I went to the Oklahoma State University library for the first time in three years, and there wasn't much for me any more.  I'd look for a book but then say, "Hey, I have that now!"  Or "They never had that, or I would have Xeroxed it!"  And the newspapers on microfiche have almost disintegrated.  I looked through a few volumes of Folklore journals -- but I seem to have some book or copy covering almost anything interesting.
 

It is hard for me to describe how big an impact OSU's Hardesty Library had on my life.  Before I started college, I owned maybe 50 paperback books (in pre-Internet days).  Once I became a freshman, I wandered in amazement through the five floors of books, journals, maps, and pamphlets of the library.  Every rare volume I'd ever heard of seemed to be there, and every rare article or book mentioned in those books was available there.  I always thought of myself as a knowledgeable young man, but at OSU, it felt like my head was hollow and empty.  Actual yellowing old copies of Blackwood's Magazine that Arthur Conan Doyle might have perused while writing the Sherlock Holmes stories were available . . . The issues of Saturday Evening Post that first printed Stephen Vincent Benet's "Place of the Gods" and Ray Bradbury's "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms," with their breathtaking painted illustrations . . . the TV newspaper guides listing when such shows as Tulsa's Fantastic Theater (horror/SF films) and Mr. Zing and Tuffy (classic cartoons) aired (both ran from 1963 to 1968 -- wow, so long ago!).


But all that seems to be in the past, now.

{Actually, the fact that I have 99% of all the books I used to drool over should make me happy.  Just have to find the time to read them!)

Also while at Stillwater, OK, my poor old knees almost gave out -- especially when I took a short cut which left me in a maze of construction/blocked off areas for half-an-hour.  We shall never speak of the short-cut again.

On the other hand, last night I discovered that there existed a hardback version of Andre Norton's The Crystal Gryphon back in 1972 -- I never knew that.  And I found out about a couple of other Norton titles I've never even heard of.  Since Andre is the one author I truly collect, it looks like there are still a few things out there to seek after.