Stephanie: The stacks at our new library were remarkably quiet on New Year’s Eve. I might try it again sometime, though I think this library often tends to be crowded because of its newness.

There’s one particular act of obscurely humorous tampering I’m often tempted to engage in at bookstores: reshelving. I’ll sometimes find a creationist book shelved in the “Science” or “Biology” section, which is clearly wrong: it should be in “Religious Fiction.”

I’m also with you on libraries generally being too busy to actually sit down and read in, though I quite liked my university library for doing this. Especially in the stacks, you could sit there thumbing through journals, or random books, for an hour or two and no one would come anywhere near you.

I’ve always liked libraries and book stores. Though, I’ve never really gotten the point of staying in a library to read or study. For me, its mostly the smell and the ambience of so many books, so many choices. Besides, I’ve loved many a book that I probably wouldn’t have ever sought if I hadn’t found it in such a collection of books.

But to stay in such a place and actually work. No, that’s no good.

Ari: Thanks! You too!