In December 2008 I started compiling a “Library ABC” which accompanies Christmas greetings and New Year wishes, along with some personal and professional news, to friends and colleagues around the world. In each issue there is a library page on which I’ve provided a photo and a brief description or some comments on three libraries, chosen because their names, or the names of the towns in which they are located, start with those letters of the alphabet.
The libraries are not necessarily special or spectacular, but they are libraries I’ve visited myself in various parts of the world. With one or two exceptions, I have taken the photos myself using a “point-and-shoot” digital camera. So the photos are not spectacular either. As I started receiving requests for “back issues”, I started posting them here – but only the library pages. The other pages, containing more personal news, are omitted for reasons of privacy. Here are all the library pages in alphabetical order:
Second series:
ABC: Library ABC for New Year 2019
DEF: Library ABC for New Year 2020
GHI: Library ABC for New Year 2021
JKL: Library ABC for New Year 2022
MNO: Library ABC for New Year 2023
PQR: Library ABC for New Year 2024
First series
ABC Library ABC for New Year 2009
DEF Library DEF for New Year 2010,
GHI Library GHI for New Year 2011,
JKL Library JKL for New Year 2012,
MNO Library MNO for New Year 2013,
PQR Library PQR for New Year 2014,
STU Library STU for New Year 2015
VWX Library VWX for New Year 2016, with additional images. I had no photos for the letter X, but a colleague in Germany kindly pointed me to a city named Xanten. That brought back memories. While I was working at IFLA in The Hague I’m sure I must have passed through or close to Xanten on the Intercity train from the Netherlands to Frankfurt am Main, where I went several times for the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Librarian of the Stadbücherei Xanten kindly provided me with a set of lovely images, presenting me with an embarras du choix —they were so good that I could not simply choose one only. Therefore I put together a set of additional images for all three of the selected libraries.
XYZ Library XYZ for New Year 2018 (There was no issue for 2016/2017.) It seemed silly to have an issue for YZA, so I decided to do XYZ instead, which meant I needed another city whose name starts with the letter X. It worked out. In August 2017 I attended the IFLA Congress in Columbus, Ohio, after which I spent a few weeks in Urbana, Illinois, at the iSchool. Terry Weech kindly gave me a lift (a ride in American English) from Columbus to Urbana, and half-way we made a short detour to Xenia, Indiana.
Peter Johan Lor 