Books have special things in them . . .

Bibliophiles often lament the destruction of the ancient Library of Alexandria, said to have been the most comprehensive collection of ancient writings in the history of the world. No one knows for sure who burned it down, whether it was Caeser in 48 B.C.E., the Muslim conquest of 642 C.E., or some other pyromaniac of antiquity. In fact, it likely suffered more than one roasting. It may come as some comfort, however, that one needn't fear a library fire destroying the culture's most important books ever again. As the Washington Post has reported, those books -- you know, the culturally significant ones -- are more likely to turn up at the library's used book sale than on its shelves. That's because, as one librarian puts it, "the days of libraries saying, 'We must have that, because it's good for people,' are beyond us." Instead, libraries are emptying their shelves of any books that haven't been read in 24 months (including, in one instance, To Kill A Mockingbird) to make way for the popular books that are in high demand. So to all of you on the waiting list for The Da Vinci Code, help is on the way.

Today's Picture of the Day is another from yesterday's location scout. I know sepia is cheesy, but the color was lousy and the black-and-white didn't highly the contrast in lighting well enough. So sepia it is! I call it, "Untitled Photo of Highway Underside."