Evening star., 1931-12-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Does a man need a card index for his
home library?
This is the question which we have
neen asked, and our reply to 1t is ring
ing negative.
No, booklover needs no index
AT the same time, 1t would do no
harm.
There is nothing to be said against
any sort OF record, properly kept, If one
wants such an index.
Ihere Is nothing to be said against
tne keeping Of a budget. by family
"Ilcn needs to keep budget.
Other families, which have solved
their expense problems to the extent
that such problems may be solved, find
puoget more Of nuisance than a
necessity.
booklover who has many volumes
may discover that a card index is help
1ul but not necessary.
he Will be able to put his hands on
any pook he wants, whether he saw it
yesterday or 10 years ago. And this,
despite the fact that he may seem to
nave no system at all, to the eyes of an
outsider.
How does he do it2
By loving his books, of course.
Ihey are, to him, not only dreams,
nsplratlon and high entertainment,
but they are things as well.
This Is the attitude which those who
rely solely on borrowed books never
grasp. Yet a book Is a thing, as much
as piano Is thing, as a house is a
tn!ng, as painting is thing.
BOOKS are things to be cherished and
loved Whether one has 5000 of them
IN the nome cases, as one gentleman
with Whom we were talking the other
day has, or whether one has only a
thouSand-an eminently respectable
number-the genuine lover of books will
have no strangers among them
every book in his case will be his
friend, some more than others. of
course, but each and every volume liked
lor some reason or other. How much
more perfect than human beings, in
this respect, are our friends of paper
and ink!
book talks-it cannot talk back
1t stands simply for what it saws. II
has no hidden meaning, no purpose
which is not there plainly on the pages
at least, to the discerning eye. II a
book has an ak to grind, it does so
openly.
The booklover knows his books for
what they are and has a warm SPOT in
his heart for the least of them Here
is volume Of slight content, but gor-
geouS covers. Then he likes the COW
ers. Henceforth this spot in his cases
is an adornment rather than a book.
He Is glad every time he looks that
way. Similarly, other books possess
special qualities which may be known
only to their possessor, but which are
very real to him. nevertheless.
Thus it comes about that the home
librarian needs no index, for he can
find what he wants by sort of in
tuition. or he can direct some one else
to the very spot in the shelves where
the wanted book lies
Just how he is able to do this he
would be at a loss to explain, except
to say that he is familiar with his
books He has had some sort of Sys-
tenn, Of course, in slowing them away
Here is case filled with volumes on
gardening. He can picture those cases
to himself at any time. and could do
1t if he were 1000 miles away.
If he were in Europe and wanted a
certain volume, he would send ca
| Bile as follows:
Send red book, fifth from the right
second shelf from the top, west wall"
And it would be the very volume he
desired, unless some busybody had been
re-arranging them since he left.
What does any one want so many
books for?" innocently asks the person
who does not want them.
There would be no use telling him,
foT he would never understand. Some
thing Of the collectors instinct, no