I really enjoy my library’s small but growing leisure reading collection. Plenty of college and university libraries have sections for fun books or best sellers, but this is a fairly recent development where I work. I think that every academic library should attempt to make a bit of space for fun books. I realize that the primary goal of an academic library is to support of research, but I think that we still have an obligation to encourage reading for the sake of reading. The leisure reading section at my library is tiny and unfortunately hidden away in a corner, but I’ve heard that the books circulate at an incredible rate.

I had a student in one of my classes who had discovered the leisure reading collection, but wanted more of a selection of fun books. She asked if she was allowed to request books from ILL if she wasn’t technically going to use them for research and was amazed when I told her that she should request whatever she wants. I did tell her about the public library down the street, because sometimes I do think people just want to browse and see what books are actually available.

Even if your library doesn’t have the money to buy a certain amount of frivolous books, I think that setting up a book swap corner might serve the same purpose. I’ve read of some libraries that set up sections like this with the borrowing period based on the honor system – if you see a book you like, grab it, keep it as long as you need it, and then bring it back or bring another book to replace it.

I’m glad that at least I have a place where I can tell people to go if they come to the reference desk wanting the “fiction section” or if want to check out Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince so they can unwind.