Depending on your viewpoint I have either accumulated, collected, hoarded, cataloged, stored, and/or documented many items throughout my 87 years. Flitting from one collection and interest has been an enjoyable part of my life. I have not succeeded in keeping my passions for the collection du jour in bounds. As a result there is a multitude of material that is sometimes overwhelming.
Like any addiction one of the first steps for recovery is to admit the addiction.
YES, I am addicted to everything and anything that I find of interest in almost any subject.
YES, I try to learn as much as I can about this current subject in the shortest length of time.
YES, this results in a potpourri of material, thoughts, and opinions.
But NO, I will not admit it is junk!
There, it feels better to get it out in the open!
Interest in “everything” is too broad as I am not interested in many things since there is too much for the mind to absorb in the time we have in our life. Although it seems like everything to me.
Examples of my interests include history, politics, management of technology, organization structure, Freemasonry, scouting, philately, ephemera, authors and books that appeal to me, genealogy, travel, photography, movie history, trivia, religion, Bible study, art, southwest Indian culture, and much more.
There also is specific subjects that have spurred me to learn more about Texas, New Mexico, T.R. Roosevelt, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, Goethe, founding fathers and revolutionary war, civil war period, authors I have personally known or met like Tony Hillerman, my ancestors genealogy, fountain pens, gambling tokens and history, Olympic pins, and others.
“Ephemera” allows me to hide many of the vices such as old magazines, autographs, stampless covers, booklets, posters, etc.
“Genealogy” allows me to examine lives, learn from the past, and to analyze history especially at the times my ancestors, and we, wree involved..
And “retirement” , well really “protirement) allows me to enjoy my passions and addictions without feeling guilty. “Protirement” is doing proactive activities I prefer instead of retiring from life and learning.
If you read this far, you got the point. Now I am in “Protirement” (doing proactive activities instead of retiring from life).
Confession is good for the soul and mind.
The second step of recovery is what to do with this addiction.
It is too late in life to recover so the best thing for me is to document what I have accumulated, share my thoughts, document journals and writings, and keep materials through various media including digitizing. Regardless of how much is actually accessed ,read or absorbed by others, the process is good for me. Selfish, but at least I will have the feeling of accomplishment in sharing what I have found in the earlier three-quarters of my life. So,
LEURIG LIBRARY is the answer
The “Leurig Library” is the result of this introspection. Thinking about the may aspects of libraries I have been responsible or involved through the years I take a broad view of the functions of libraries. I prefer to think of libraries as learning centers containing depositories of information, stories of life in the past, present and future, and the sharing of viewpoints.
The “Leurig Library” has these features. In order to give the library a function for identification the subtitle is“Life and Learning”.
Please read the About Louis Richard (Dick) Leurig and What is in the Leurig Library at the top of web main page for further insights. Enjoy the Library, and yes, discussion is allowed as the “Quiet Please” signs have been removed.
Louis Richard (Dick) Leurig December 24, 2017