I love dog ears. Scratch your dog’s ears and he leans into your hand with an adoration bordering on orgasmic as he makes little noises of ecstacy. I love perky little ears and I love long silky ears, particularly when they are not stained and caked with food. Spending time with my dogs’ ears demonstrates my affection and commitment to them. It makes us both happy.
It is the same way with my books.
I know I was told as a kid never to dog ear the pages. As an English teacher and former school librarian, I know that book marks are there to hold your place until the next time. But when I read, I often find quotations I love and want to find for another time (you’ll frequently find them here). I don’t carry sticky notes around with me when I’m reading. Book marks and sticky notes are inclined to dive into my bath tub, whereas the book itself rarely does. So I dog ear corners. You can tell how loved or how relevant a book is by the number of dog ears. Eventually I go through the book and copy out all the quotes I want to keep for future pondering. Dog ears tell me that this book is a friend that I am fond of and that I am committed to re-visiting. I like the idea of future people reading through my books and wondering, “What was the quote she loved on this page?” It’s a little communication to the future. I would write in the margins, except I don’t carry a pen with me into the bath either… When I do this to my books, I’m well within my rights. I own them, I can do whatever I want with impunity. I figured as long as I remembered to transfer my quotes and straighten the corners of my library books, I’d be fine.
Enter the Library Nazis.
A couple months ago, after I had returned some books and was stopped outside the library visiting with someone who wanted to ask me about Grace Awakening, a librarian came to hover in the doorway. When the fan left, I went to see what the librarian wanted. Very tentatively she remarked, “We see that you tend to dog ear your books. We wondered if you needed some bookmarks?” I tried to explain that dog ears are not the sign of frequent stopping points (I generally read in one or two sittings, after all) but rather the sign of a need to record. She suggested the sticky notes at that point.
Chastened by the Orwellian idea that the library actually keeps track of my reading habits I agreed to avoid turning page corners on library books in the future. This means, I am not really taking out many library books at present, because how will I mark the important sections?
Enter the ebook. I have a Sony e-Reader which I love. One great feature of an ebook is the ability to download electronic books from the BC provincial library consortium: Libraries to Go. I can read them, and electronically I can underline, write notes, or even dog ear the electronic pages! So long as I transfer the data to my computer before the ebook is electronically returned, I’m good. The digital copy may have kept my annotations somewhere, but since the copy on my reader just fades away, no librarian needs to harrass me for damaging books. I can scratch those dog ears with impunity.
The future is friendly.
Shawn L. Bird 
dog ears May 23, 2011
Tags: postaday2011
I love dog ears. Scratch your dog’s ears and he leans into your hand with an adoration bordering on orgasmic as he makes little noises of ecstacy. I love perky little ears and I love long silky ears, particularly when they are not stained and caked with food. Spending time with my dogs’ ears demonstrates my affection and commitment to them. It makes us both happy.
It is the same way with my books.
I know I was told as a kid never to dog ear the pages. As an English teacher and former school librarian, I know that book marks are there to hold your place until the next time. But when I read, I often find quotations I love and want to find for another time (you’ll frequently find them here). I don’t carry sticky notes around with me when I’m reading. Book marks and sticky notes are inclined to dive into my bath tub, whereas the book itself rarely does. So I dog ear corners. You can tell how loved or how relevant a book is by the number of dog ears. Eventually I go through the book and copy out all the quotes I want to keep for future pondering. Dog ears tell me that this book is a friend that I am fond of and that I am committed to re-visiting. I like the idea of future people reading through my books and wondering, “What was the quote she loved on this page?” It’s a little communication to the future. I would write in the margins, except I don’t carry a pen with me into the bath either… When I do this to my books, I’m well within my rights. I own them, I can do whatever I want with impunity. I figured as long as I remembered to transfer my quotes and straighten the corners of my library books, I’d be fine.
Enter the Library Nazis.
A couple months ago, after I had returned some books and was stopped outside the library visiting with someone who wanted to ask me about Grace Awakening, a librarian came to hover in the doorway. When the fan left, I went to see what the librarian wanted. Very tentatively she remarked, “We see that you tend to dog ear your books. We wondered if you needed some bookmarks?” I tried to explain that dog ears are not the sign of frequent stopping points (I generally read in one or two sittings, after all) but rather the sign of a need to record. She suggested the sticky notes at that point.
Chastened by the Orwellian idea that the library actually keeps track of my reading habits I agreed to avoid turning page corners on library books in the future. This means, I am not really taking out many library books at present, because how will I mark the important sections?
Enter the ebook. I have a Sony e-Reader which I love. One great feature of an ebook is the ability to download electronic books from the BC provincial library consortium: Libraries to Go. I can read them, and electronically I can underline, write notes, or even dog ear the electronic pages! So long as I transfer the data to my computer before the ebook is electronically returned, I’m good. The digital copy may have kept my annotations somewhere, but since the copy on my reader just fades away, no librarian needs to harrass me for damaging books. I can scratch those dog ears with impunity.
The future is friendly.
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