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Some read for love, some read for research, some collect books as part of a well-furnished home. Since the Internet and the Information Super Highway, some say why bother? Apart from the obvious possibility of computer crashing, there are a number of useful pleasures to be gained from the joys and pursuits of library building.

First, where to begin. For the average person who doesn’t have a field of interest requiring specific volumes, consider an Encyclopedia. As a child, I used to browse my parents’ bookcase and the Encyclopedia with its eclectic offerings fascinated me. I wasn’t really looking for anything, I was just looking, and, because I wasn’t limited to just the topic whose name I typed in on my screen, the encyclopedia became a mysterious jungle ripe for exploration. Options include The Encyclopedia Britannica ($1195) and Comptons ($299).

A good dictionary offers more meanings than the Net and is an easier place to find words you don’t know how to spell. In the process, you may find some new ones. Consider The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language ($38). The reliable Merriam-Webster line offers a lower-priced dictionary, as well as reference volumes in almost every other field.

Even if you write only business letters, a Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms gives you far more flexibility of expression than the Net. Oxford Paperback Reference is available in paperback. Roget’s International Thesaurus gives you even more words and William Strunk, Junior’s “The Elements of Style” will help you make the most of them. Some people read Fowler’s Modern English Usage just for fun. Fowler and his writers are outraged and passionate about the uses of words. They answer many obscure grammatical questions and tempt you to think of sloppy language in the same way you think of greasy hair.

An international atlas is indispensable and fun. The International Atlas: World Latitudes and Longitudes, Time Changes and Time Zones can be yours for $39. If that’s more than you need to know, Webster and Rand McNally offer reliable lower price editions. A paper-back Zip Code Directory makes address-finding quicker and easier.

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations or Penguin’s Dictionary of Quotations will help you design your own greeting cards.

Bulfinch’s Mythology is an unvarying source of the myths that inspired many of the stories that are the basis for what we see and read today.
Treat yourself to The Poetry of Our World: Edited by Ed Payne, Contemporary American Poetry, edited by Ryan G. Van Cleave and for more classics from our native tongue, William Rose Benet’s Anthology of Famous English and American Poetry.

For an overview of global history, politics and culture, the best value is still Will and Ariel Durant’s multi-volume Story of Civilization for the beauty of its style as well as the brilliance of its compression. Samuel Eliot Morrison’s The Oxford History of the American People takes an abstract view of our continent from pre-history to the assassination of President Kennedy and Howard Zinn’s revisionist A People’s History of the United States ranges from 1492 to 2003.
These are just the basics and new volumes are coming out all the time. There are many sub-headings such as fiction, biography, travel, history, psychology, philosphy and politics, to name a few. Although most of these are trial-and-error personal preference categories, future articles will be devoted to them.

$ Financial Values:
In addition to second-hand stores, haunt library sales where you may find many out-of-print treasures and $5 will buy you a fortune in quality and delight.

O Personal Values:
Words are something we all use and the more you have at your disposal, the richer you are.