Library Nerds Anonymous

Um, hi, my name is TexLex, and I'm a library nerd. There, I admitted it. See, I've always known that I liked books, and I really like the old ones, but spending half of Saturday in the library reminded me that I enjoy them way too much. And I can't help it, really. It's like I'm drawn to them. I like the way they feel in my hands, and their smell. And then there's all the words they contain. The little bits of knowledge hidden in the depth of their pages. Oh, the beauty of it all.

I blame my mother, at least mostly. She's the one who turned me on to books at an early age. It started with the pictures and then the simple sentences. Next, before I knew it, I was devouring whole children's novels like they were sweet candy. It helped that we didn't watch much TV, but that's just an excuse. I actually liked the books more than TV which is what should have clued me in if I'd know this was the disease that it is. But it gets worse.

After spending my high school years reading many of the classics like Dickens, Stevenson, Dumas, etc. for pleasure (not school), I got a job with a legal research firm investigating the original intent of the founding fathers. I soon found myself in the depths of the local law libraries blowing the dust of volumes that hadn't been touched in decades. I also read through the records of the congressional congress and the personal letters of folks like Adams, Jefferson, Henry, etc. The thrill of finding something relevant and applicable was like a tasty bite of a fine meal. But I got away from this when I went off to college.

I'd thought that the dullness of college textbooks and lack of meat in most popular novels had cured me of this illness. I'd thought that the non-fiction I'd suffered through in business school had weaned me of any desire to suffer through another book with any amount of wisdom hidden in it's pages (so well that it was hard to find most times). But I was wrong. So, so wrong. Six weeks of law school and my re-introduction to reporters in LWRA has reminded me of the joys and pleasures of legal research. Pulling multiple volumes off the shell to take back to my table is like a shot of adrenaline. The expectation that I might find the answer to whatever question I'm researching is a high like only the finest wine or scotch can bring.

Please, Doc, you've got to help me. I know I'm strange and that my behavior is not normal. My classmates think I'm nuts because I enjoy this and already have my research paper completed even though it's not due until Thursday. I know I can't go through the rest of law school and hide from this problem, so how can I manage it such that I'm not labeled a nut case or worse, flat out crazy. This ain't right. Please . . . . help!