Looking for Books and Other Related Musings

 I haven't compiled enough research yet to make another solid post on my findings, but I've been searching around for books, articles and other types of media regarding the history of orchids and their uses.  The other night, I happened across a "sample" of a book online that looked interesting but it didn't give me enough information to make an informed opinion on whether it could be used or not for my endeavors.

I used WorldCat which is a global catalog of library materials online to search for the book I found the sample on.  In North Carolina, there was only one place listed that had this book on its shelves and that was NC State.  Even though this book was on a topic I'm interested in, I didn't want to purchase the book only for it to not have the information I am looking for, for my research project.  The book itself, is a moderate expense and while I do love my books (glances over at my bookshelves), I have become a bit selective on what books I purchase.

The thing about the NC State library is, that unless you are a student, alumni or faculty, you can check out books but it comes at a cost.  I went to the NC State library website and in order for a non-student like me to be able to check books out, you'd have to be a member of the Patrons of the Library which is an annual fee of $125 and then an additional fee of like $25 per book checked out.  I was sitting there contemplating whether it was worth it to pay that amount of money to use their library when I reached out to one of my hobby groups on Facebook and asked if anyone had any connections to be able to at least get supervised "hands on" with the book.  A couple of people responded but the consensus was one that I hadn't even considered and that was to check your local library to see if they can do an "Inter-Library Loan" in order to borrow the book.

I can't really pin point the last time I checked a physical book out from a library.  In the time we are in now, where everything is revolved around technology and digital editions, it seems most people forget that libraries still exist.  If I had to guess an approximate time in years of when I last checked out a physical book from the library, I'd probably have to say was maybe around 28 years ago.  Holy smokes!!!  I have made use of Libby, which is an app for libraries that lets you check out eBooks, but even that was at least 8 years ago.  When I was a kid, in middle school, most days, I would get out of school and walk to the library (which was basically across a football field) and hang out at the library until my mom came by and picked me up after she got off of work.  

The author at Universal Studios Florida
getting Popeye's autograph
in the 6th grade

The library was this magical after school place that pretty much served as a second home in a lot of ways for a bunch of us kids even though it wasn't any kind of official "after-school program" by any stretch of the imagination.  It was where I read my first MAD magazine, where I learned to use the computer (outside of school and aside from the one we had at home that was limited).  It was where I read to my heart’s content and hung out with friends.  I would often sit in the children’s section and look out the huge windows at the elementary school next door and imagine my Dad was there, helping to build it.  (There are two elementary schools in the county that had the same design/architecture, the only thing different was the color scheme, that my Dad helped build.)  I remember my first boyfriend and I sneaking out of the library and going out to the announcer’s box at the football field behind the library and experiencing my first kiss.  I felt like I was on top of the world because he was popular in school and all the girls had a crush on him.  Back then, I was this dorky girl who had buck teeth, braces and bad haircuts. Sadly, the middle school was torn down sometime in the 2000's and the only thing that remains is the old gymnasium.  As a side note, at night when I'm sleeping, I sometimes re-visit the old school and walk the halls and go in the classrooms.

I currently hold library cards in four different counties.  I suppose I can still use the other three even though I don't live in those counties anymore.  I know where two of those library cards are, the other two I would need to dig around in the house to find.

Today, I called my local branch and inquired about an Inter-Library Loan with NC State.  The gentleman on the other end of the line took down my information and what book I was looking for and gave me some up front information about the potential for costs associated (shipping fee and possible loan fee from the home/originating library).  He said he wasn't sure what it would cost, if anything, and that he would research the book, locate it and call me back with his findings.  About an hour later, I received a phone call from him again and said that they weren't able to borrow the book from NC State's library but gave alternative borrow locations for the book, that wouldn't incur any fees.  I didn't have my library card on hand at the time of the call, so he had to look me up and update some information they had on file; when that was done, my request was placed to borrow the book I was looking for from the Library of Congress. Yes, that Library of Congress, the one in Washington DC!  That was a bit of exciting news as I didn't know you could borrow books from the Library of Congress.  The gentleman at the main library in my county whom I was speaking with let me know that it would likely be about three weeks before the book arrived as the Library of Congress moves slow; he also said that once it arrives, he'll have it sent to my local branch as well for ease of access.  So once that book comes in, I can make an assessment on whether or not I'd like to purchase the book for my private collection or not.

I have now rediscovered how invaluable libraries really are and how helpful they can be when you are on a pursuit for education and resources for your research.  Yes, a lot of it is online these days, but there are tons of hard bound books and documents out there that aren't online that one can use.... for free.  It's not just a place for nerdy kids, its a place for everyone and we must not forget that.

In other news, I recently found out that an event called Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival will be held relatively local to me in 2025, relatively local being about an hour to an hour and a half drive away.  What it is, is an event where people who have researched/created/made things from historical references come together to share what they've researched/created/made with others.  In the ten years that I've been in the SCA, I have not attended KASF so this would be a new event for me.  I plan to attend and put what research I have gathered on display for others to see.  The event is in March so I'm not sure how kind the weather would be to transporting some of my orchids for display, but we'll see.  If nothing else, it will give me the opportunity to talk about and share my love of orchids with others and what their history is.

So here's to further educational and research pursuits for the coming year!

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I've got a lot of new growth on some of my orchids and a few that will be blooming soon so I'll be posting about those in due time.

Thanks for reading!