The Perfect Library

Amidst the burgeoning hubub of my last semester of Master's work and most especially amidst the hubub of my wife and I opening escrow on our first house I have been thinking less about particular books than the idea of needing to move them as well as where I will be moving them to. I'm pretty sure that I have already picked out which room will be my office/library, pending the wife's approval (who will be seeing the house for the first time this weekend thanks to a 6-week long training on the East Coast) and I have already begun to play a mental game of Tetris in reference to exactly how everything will fit into this room. I will describe the reality of the room in a bit but I first want to detour into the train of thought that this obviously leads me to; my concept of the perfect library.

 

 

As I mentioned last week I have grown up with images of the vast, magical libraries from movies and other real-life experiences. Of course there is always the caveat of actually having the ability to read all of these collected books. As a result my concept of the perfect private library is a bit scaled down but not without its own magical perfection. Thanks to the advent of Google Sketch-up I've managed to put my imagination into some type of tangible form which I will attempt to show here.

 

 

First, my perfect library necessarily exists within the perfect house; my dream house which I have designed complete with a sweeping staircase, fireman's pole, secret passages, and a turret capped with a 360-degree reading room (if you're dreaming, might as well dream big). The library itself is just off the main hall (inlaid with a giant compass rose). The library is entered through a huge green, round door, with a brass knob in its center (I hope you recognize the reference). This door opens into a long room with a high ceiling and light pouring through the window seat directly opposite the door. Directly in front of this window is the desk; a broad flat affair with no drawers, just a nice amount of legroom beneath, and accompanied by a high backed leather executive chair and lit by a green glass secretary's lamp with brass hardware and a little hanging chain. The floor is wood and covered with a Persian rug. On the wall to either side of the door two small portraits: Leonardo DaVinci on the right and J.R.R. Tolkien on the left. Since I am a man of many hobbies the DaVinci wall is dedicated to music. It is divided into two sections of cabinetry; one with long doors opening to a miniature recording studio, the other containing drawers below and glass doors above with lights to illuminate my two most valued guitars. The left hand wall houses the books; the entire wall has been dedicated to shelves, maybe with a few open spots for knickknacks but mostly as a placeholder until more books arrive. This wall also houses the obligatory rolling ladder which leaves just enough room for the other stationary high-backed reading chair. I could tell you about the secret passage but that would be giving away too much, wouldn't it?

Now to face the reality; this dream would probably take up a space larger than the master bedroom in our new house. The room that I will probably use (again pending the wife's approval) might fit the desk and two bookshelves. The music section will likely be relegated to the closet along with a number of winter coats, I'm sure (its no wardrobe, I know). But its a first house. I can't say I've particularly earned the dream library just yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when the book deal hits. In the meantime I'll try to post pictures of the real room as soon as escrow closes.