Libraries of Crime

I have been somewhat remiss in not writing more about mystery collections at public libraries. I was reminded of that fact yesterday when I visited the library in Plainfield, NJ, which has a very large, very skillfully maintained and chosen selection of all kinds of crime fiction. Yes, there are a great many contemporary potboilers - no need to list the authors here. But there are also a lot of classic mysteries - authors such as Elizabeth Daly and Rex Stout are featured prominently. I even found a couple of R. Austin Freeman's books featuring Dr. Thorndyke, and I look forward to reading them and reviewing them here. At Plainfield, I found something I have not seen very often: many of the mysteries were originally paperbacks, but they have been carefully and lovingly rebound into hardback editions.

Public libraries are a good, inexpensive way to catch up with crime stories and detective fiction, just as they serve as major preserving and circulating outlets for all kinds of books - and, these days, for videos and other media as well. Not all have really thorough collections of classics - but some do, and I would love to hear about your local libraries and their collections. Feel free to post your thoughts here.

Comments

[Joe Da Rold, Director, Plainfield Public Library]

Thank you for the compliment about our book collection! We have many mystery readers on our staff at Plainfield Public Library, and many more throughout the community, so we are delighted to hear "outside" comments. Several years ago I began to implement a collection development plan that I had seen at Burbank PL, where an entire branch library specializes in mysteries. As you know we have only one facility and limited shelf space, but we try our best to hold onto old mysteries, no matter what shape they are in. There is nothing worse than discovering an author and series and not being able to find all of the past titles in the series. Even though we are able to borrow books for you from other libraries, mystery readers are a bit like junkies and need their fix immediately. People often forget the fundamental difference between a library and a bookstore is that we maintain thousands of out-of-print treasures in our collections.

Thanks for writing about us.

Joe Da Rold, Director, Plainfield Public Library

[Les Blatt]

Thanks for the comment. I would agree completely with your note about the library's role in preserving out-of-print books. I think the Plainfield collection is unusually strong in that regard - and worth a visit by anyone in the area who is interested in great mysteries.