I don’t know about you, but libraries have greatly impacted my life. One of my fondest childhood memories is of my mom taking me (and my siblings) to the small public library during the summer to choose books to keep us entertained (and most likely, out of trouble). It fostered my love for reading, which in turn, fostered my desire to become an author. And I’m not the only one.
I follow the posts of a man named Sean Dietrich (aka Sean of the South) and was moved by his post titled “Library Cards.” It was published on March 23, 2022—not long after my daughter was hired as a mobile librarian for Gallatin Public Library in Tennessee. Reading Sean’s post made me proud to have an adult child who wanted to positively impact the love of learning for young people. You’ll want to take a couple of minutes to read Sean’s post. It’s very moving.
There are a number of impressive libraries in the U.S., so I thought it would be fun to touch on a few in the South, since it’s where Mayhem and Moonlight is set—and where Lillian is a librarian. But I was amazed at the number (and diversity) of these institutions.
Here are a few statistics: 9,057 public libraries; 3,697 (with 671 bookmobiles); 105,451 school libraries (82,300 public, 22,991 private, and 160 Bureau of Indian Affairs). There are additionally over 5,000 “other” libraries—Medical, Law, Corporate, Government, and Armed Forces.
That’s a lot of libraries! I would love to have the time to visit each of those I’ll be highlighting this week. But I can’t. There is one library on the list, however, that I did visit—and I was shocked to find it on the list of impressive libraries. Not because it wasn’t impressive, but because the books aren’t available to borrow, let alone view (except from behind a red, velvet guard rope). And it certainly isn’t free!
The Biltmore House Library in Ashville, North Carolina, is housed in the Biltmore Estate. This grandiose and stunning site was built for George Washington Vanderbilt II in the late 1800’s. Chris and I visited the Biltmore about three years ago. What an impressive “Guilded Age” mansion! It reportedly cost $5 million to build, which is equivalent to almost $200 million today. My practical side has a hard time with the extravagance, but my romantic side couldn’t help but want to see it anyway.
Spring hadn’t yet sprung when we were there, so the gardens weren’t as impressive as I’m sure they are in the summer months. I could’ve happily spent my entire time there in two places—the conservatory (which is a fancy name for a nursery) with all the exotic plants, and the library—which is about the size of my house.
Oh, but all those beautiful books on two levels stacked row after row! According to the Biltmore Blog, by the time George Vanderbuilt died, he had collected more than 23,000 volumes—a third of which were “antiquarian” purchases. I could list out the impressive facts, but if you’re interested, the link above will take you directly to that post.
This massive estate has 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces in 180,000 square feet. That’s 72 times larger than my humble abode. But still, it was the library that drew me. According to the docent, there were several secret passages that connected the guest rooms to the library for privacy and convenience. Can you imagine having access to such an amazing array of books?
I’ll come back tomorrow to share more impressive libraries. In the meantime, don’t forget to enter for your chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card.
You can still get the ebook version of Mayhem and Moonlight for the preorder price of $2.99. Be sure to claim your preorder gift by filling out the form from my publisher’s website. Just have your Amazon order number handy. If you prefer the paperback version, it is now available and already includes the preorder gift.
