Personal Libraries of Executives

I just loved this recent blog entry from Jeffrey Keefer's Silence and Voice blog.

"There is a revealing article in today's New York Times (the complete article can be found here) about how some of the most successful people in business today have large personal libraries that contain few of the best-selling business success books that fill the bookstores today. While this makes sense (why would somebody who is already successful read books about how to become successful?), what is most surprising is what they are reading. According to this article, they are reading subjects that include:

• poetry (such as Blake)
• philosophy (such as Aristotle)
• classic literature
• global works on science and weather (climactic change)

Having a personal library has always been important to me as well. I am always buying (and even reading) books. Philosophy, adult education, classical literature, non-fiction, and academic and professional journals line my bookshelves. As they get full, I have to move them to other locations as well as weed-out the ones that just are not needed (which usually means they were never needed in the beginning). With all the increasing emphasis on electronic content delivery and management, I still like having books in my hand, and I think Seth Godin expressed most concisely why this is:

"Holding and owning the book, remembering when and how you got it... that's what you're paying for. Books are great at holding memories."

I think I will do some reading this afternoon. Ahh, the choices!"