The Collegian

Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Features

Professor of Christianity and Literature John Reist perches amid stacks of books he has accumulated for years, many through reading clubs of which he can no longer keep track.

'Some guys collect stamps...cars...women...I collect books'
As the legend goes, the late professor of political science Alexander Shtromas moved so many books into the attic of his home at the corner of Fayette and Hillsdale streets that floors below buckled.

The estimated 10,000 volumes were even held on custom shelves inside the 4-by-4 foot chimney.

But Vice President of Administration Rich Péwé said "structural damage" is a bit of an exaggeration.

"He made use of every square inch. They kept putting books in there…Over time it cracked the drywall a floor below," said Péwé, who lives in Shtromas's former home. "I don't think there was anybody in town that had a personal library like that."

Shtromas's books eventually went to a library in his home country, Lithuania, but for many Hillsdale College professors, even purchasing 100 books per year can cause a space crunch.

"It's endless in the way that one book leads to six books," said Associate Professor of History Richard Gamble.

But when asked, professors like Gamble admit the book collecting "addiction," "habit" or "disease" is more voluntary than compulsive.

First editions
For Gamble, his two years in Hillsdale mark the first time he has had nearly all of his books in one place - on shelves which reach to the ceiling of his Delp Hall office.

"I want badly to be able to get up and pull a book off the shelf," Gamble said. "There's something very important about having all these books here…to introduce students to the life of the mind…[and so they] realize you read."

Gamble said he tears through his college book budget when purchasing as many as 100 books per year. He also uses MELCat and interlibrary loan "like crazy," compiles lists of books to find at bookstores across the country and shops online at AbeBooks.com.

He said AbeBooks has only failed him twice.

And although he misses the thrill of the bookstore hunt, Gamble appreciates how even "mom and pop" booksellers are now online.

He found a first edition of John Henry Newman's "Idea of a University" online. The $75 edition includes an appendix never printed in later editions. He also found a steal in an 1838 Massachusetts Historical Society volume that includes the first printed appearance of John Winthrop's "A Modell of Christian Charity."

"That's the kind of thing I'm thrilled to uncover, and the Internet makes that possible," Gamble said.

For Professor of Christianity and Literature John Reist, book clubs cut his search time. He belongs to the Readers' Subscription, Military Book Club, Book of the Month Club and Folio Society, if not others he can't easily recall.

"Some guys collect stamps, some guys collect cars, some guys collect fishing tackle, some guys collect women," Reist said. "I collect books."

He ranks a signed edition of Carl Burt's "Church Dogmatics" as one of his most precious books.

Hardback, paperback, and staples
"I collect cheap books," said James Brandon, associate professor of theater and speech.

In his Sage Center office, Brandon is surrounded by fantasy, anime and comic book posters. His walls are lined with bookcases and wall-mounted wooden shelves.

Among military history, fantasy fiction, theater journals and literary magazines, Brandon said at least half were purchased at a discount and almost every recent purchase has been made online.

He began collecting books seriously in graduate school, but remembered losing hundreds of paperbacks to industrious mice during undergraduate studies.

"I still don't know all I lost," he said.

But hidden in a home closet is Brandon's real collection: 2,500 comic books, including nearly 700 Iron Man editions that he stores in plastic sleeves. He first read Iron Man in first grade, became a serious collector later, and eventually collected the full set of Iron Man's first series, skipping price haggling when he found the last one.

"I think I bought it for $4.50," Brandon said.

Now they're all insured, and worth about $1 each if sold in bulk.

"It's great escapism. He's a Hillsdale hero, a self-made hero," Brandon said.

Rows and stacks
According to Henry Petroski in "The Book on Bookshelves," bookkeeping before the construction of El Escorial palace in the late 1500s mostly commonly used the "stall system," in which shelves were not placed against walls (like in modern libraries and bookstores).

Now, households and offices most commonly employ the "wall system." But that doesn't mean organizing isn't creative. Petroski mentions color organization, read vs. unread, order of acquisition (see the college DVD collection) and hardback vs. paperback.

For Gamble and Reist, paperback isn't even an option anymore. They want durable books.

"A book worth buying is a book worth keeping," Reist said.

Gamble plans to build a new home with a home study as the centerpiece. Until then, he arranges his office with American history books behind his desk by chronological subject. Then it's favorite authors, education, European history, World War I, and American identity filling out shelves around the room.

"That's kind of me," Gamble said, pointing to shelves filled with Christopher Dawson, Russell Kirk, Richard Weaver, John Henry Newman, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. "Four and a half shelves of my favorite authors."

He leaves gaps in shelves for new books, but rearranges when he must. Many books are stacked on his desk - current research, library books and course preparation, he explains.

Reist's home library and office shelves include cultural criticism, biblical studies, sports magazines, military histories and theology.

"I guess I didn't organize these," Reist said, motioning to a mound of books beneath his office lamp and next to his plush office chair.

Like with Shtromas, Reist said his home library caused old floors to sag before he moved the books to the ground floor, noting the books are good for insulation.

"Whenever I visit an office…I always look at the books on the shelf," Reist said. "If you don't read, you're going to be whatever you're going to be."

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