The Master Librarian
By Don Hobbs

Kelly Hamill, my oldest daughter, graduated from the University of North Texas with a Master's degree in Library Science on May 9, 2008. I am extremely proud of her. She worked full time as an elementary school teacher and had a baby while going to school. For more than five years, her evenings and weekends were monopolized by her school work. It is too bad that she needs to get paid for be a librarian because I my library could use some help.

I would let her bring my granddaughter's Emily and Madison to work with her. I would be flexible when she needed time off and I know things would be done they way I wanted them done. She could do the necessary research on all of the non-English book I keep acquiring. She could get all of the bibliographic information I need. I have already established a small network of assistants such as Gayane Grot-Khachatryan. Gaya lives in Austin, Texas and she as helped me for several years now. Any book I get in the Cyrillic alphabet, I send her scans of the cover, the signature page, and other various pages and she translates them for me. I have others who do similar tasks for me for Chinese, Japanese, Slovenian, Thai, and Burmese books. These are all un-paid assistants.

I could introduce Kelly to all of these wonderful people and she could find others. She could oversee the construction of new shelves in my library. I have stacks and stacks of books on the floor and the shelves are overflowing. She could log all of the new books in my database. She could write up the new entries for The Galactic Sherlock Holmes and find new sources for new books. Who knows, she might even become a Sherlockian.

These are things I enjoy doing but my time at home has been reduced severely in recent months due to the calling of work.  It is a vicious circle, I have to work to have money to buy book. I cannot afford to hire my daughter as a librarian because I need the money to buy more books. I cannot afford to build new shelves because I need the money to buy more books. If I stopped buying books, them I could afford all of these things but if I stopped buying books, I would not need these things. If I stopped buying book, them I would need to work and I could retire. Of course, if I retired, I would have more time to look for more books and then I would have to go back to work and the vicious cycle starts all over again.

Well, Kelly, I guess you will have to work elsewhere until I win the lottery. Still, I am very proud of what you have accomplished.

Happy Collecting!!