Garbage-pickers aren't so bad...

When I was a child, and my family visited my grandparents, we'd often play canasta.  If any one of us picked up the discard pile when there was less than a dozen cards or so, we'd be called a garbage-picker.  Regardless of our intentions (often grabbing one or two cards we needed to finish a canasta, etc.), we were labeled for picking up and collecting something that others felt was worthless.

I see that happening at the library sometimes, and it really bugs me.  People with an inflated sense of their own literary tastes put down readers and authors who don't live up to their expectations.

"You really read him/her?"

"I can't/won't read that trash."

"He/She isn't a *real* author."

For those of you who have expressed these sorts of sentiments (and to be fair, I've done it once or twice in my life in response to authors who write more books than I do blog entries), I'd like to request in the politest way possible that you keep them to yourself.  Here's why:

1)  Adult illiteracy is a major issue.

• As I've written about before, we live in a time when illiteracy is a huge concern.  There are many people who will never voluntarily read a book after high school.  As a society of readers, we need to be encouraging people to read, nomatter what the content.

2)  Library funding is derived from circulation (to an extent).

• If elitist readers drive away patrons, the library's circulation stats will plummet and the library's book purchasing budget will follow.  At that point, the library will have to focus its fiction budget on titles that appeal to as many patrons as possible, and will no longer be able to purchase books that appeal to that small elitist subset.

3)  Indiscriminate reading should not offend you.

• Reading is not a conspicuous activity.  Short of reading pornographic materials in public, reading is not an activity where the participant makes a point of doing something to impress or offend bystanders.

4)  There's nothing wrong with trashy novels.

• Okay, these books will probably never be used as a basis of an academic dissertation.  People can still derive pleasure from reading them.  These people are still reading and using their imaginations rather than passively consuming television and other media.

I've read the Illiad.  I also read Star Trek novels.  The universe is not constructed in a way that requires me to only enjoy one or the other.  So leave those readers alone who don't match your expectations, and perhaps try picking up a trashy novel.  Who knows?  You might even enjoy it.