On the Value of Books

Oftentimes there is a positive relationship between the rarity of an object and its perceived value. Postage stamps are an example. The one-cent Tiffany Lamp stamp can be purchased at face value at any United States Postal Service office. In contrast, the one-cent Benjamin Franklin Z Grill stamp is valued at $2.97 million. The difference is that while the Tiffany Lamp can be purchased in coils of 3,000 stamps all across the United States, there are only two remaining Z Grill stamps known to exist. Perhaps it is a similar calculus that explains why in an age of amazon.com and large public libraries that many are so unimpressed with books.

In describing Abraham Lincoln, author Doris Kearns Goodwin writes: "Books became his academy, his college. The printed word united his mind with the great minds of generations past. Relatives and neighbors recalled that he scoured the countryside for books and read every volume "he could get his hands on." At a time when ownership of books remained "a luxury for those Americans living outside the purview of the middle class," gaining access to reading material proved difficult. When Lincoln obtained copies of the King James Bible, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Aesop's Fables, and William Scott's Lessons in Elocution, he could not contain his excitement. Holding Pilgrim's Progress in his hands, "his eyes sparkled, and that day he could not eat, and that night he could not sleep."" This is the picture of a man who valued the printed word.

John C. Maxwell has said that "highly successful people have a continual thirst for knowledge and are always asking questions." Reading good books is one way that highly successful people gain access to knowledge and find answers to those questions. I have also heard it said that the best way to hide something from a Black man is to put it in a book. I am determined that this will never be said of me. It is my hope that it will never be said of you either. Recent books I've read have helped me become a better leader, build a stronger marriage, improve my parenting skills, and teach more effectively. And I have a list of books in queue waiting to be read. What have you read lately?