I freely admit it. There are lots of things going on at the library that I don't know anything about. Mostly, I'm ok with that.

I finally figured out that it's impossible for one person to keep track of all the activities of 100 others -- especially when they're as creative as our staff. It's more important that the environment is lively than that I know all about it ahead of time.

Besides, I like surprises. (Usually.)

"Despite the fact that it took our ancestors about 2,000 years to develop an alphabetic code, children are regularly expected to crack this code in about 2,000 days (that is, by six or seven years of age), or they will run afoul of the whole educational structure -- teachers, principals, family, and peers. If reading is not acquired on society's schedule, these suddenly disinherited children will never feel the same about themselves. They will have learned they are different, and no one ever tells them that evolutionarily, this might be for a good reason."

Chris Virgil was telling me about one of the benefits of working in the part of the library that prepares new materials. "I see things I didn't even know existed," she said. "Like what?" I asked. "Like Bollywood," she said with enthusiasm.