This is the latest in my on-again, off-again series of Bygone Blogs, in which I’m re-posting some of my favorite blogs from the last 15 years. This one was originally published on June 23, 2009, when I was working in the Webster Thomas High School library.
Our set of Encyclopedia Britannicas played a very important part in my young life. I was reminded of them the other day when I was poking through some old books in the attic, and I came across one with a familiar smell.
Smelly Yellow Books
An unfortunate and always difficult job every librarian must face at least once a year is weeding out-of-date and worn books from the collection. No one ever likes to throw out books, but it’s a necessary evil to keep a collection current and make room for new arrivals.
In our library, one thing nearing the end of its lifespan is our World Book encyclopedia set. I’ll be sad when that has to go, because for me it will mean the end of an era.
I remember fondly the Encyclopedia Britannica set we owned when I was a child. It was yellow, had 18 volumes and dark gold-leaf lettering. It resided, very dignified, in the same bookcase in the dining room of every house we lived in. The pages in those volumes guided me through countless school projects and research assignments. Just knowing they were there gave me confidence; I knew I had the resources at my fingertips to get a good grade.
We even used our Britannica to play the “encyclopedia game.” My mother would tell us which volume she had, then start reading the article (saying “blank,” of course, when an obvious word would have given away the answer.) We raced to tell her what the article was about. We loved that game.
And I can still remember how our Britannica set smelled. Robust, and just a little musty. To me, that aroma signified knowledge.
But no one uses encyclopedias anymore, at least ones printed on paper. High schools and public libraries now subscribe to online databases which tap into a thousand times more information than any encyclopedia set could ever offer. Google and Wikipedia are even easier. I think it’s safe to say our library’s World Book set hasn’t seen the light of day in more than a year.
The death of encyclopedia sets is really the end of an era. It’s like another piece of my youth is disappearing. The internet is awesome, and has opened up the world to us. But I hope there will never be a time when our children don’t know what it feels like to turn a page, or hear the snap of the paper…or know the smell of a book.
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(Posted 6/26/2023)
webster on the web 
I bought a set of Encyclopedia Britannica just after my first full time job. Possibly before a car. Around $750
Do you still remember how they smell? 🙂
Oh, Missy, you area hopeless bibliophile & romantic. Perhaps there’s a twelve-step program for that.
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Fun facts: Elon Musk and AJ Jacobs have both read the entire encyclopedia, although probably not the same set. But alas, I digress. Jacobs wrote a book about his endeavor: The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. It only took him eighteen months.
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AS is so often the case: something gained; something lost. Certainly we gain shelf-space, and have one less thing to dust. Less stuff. But we’ve lost something, too. Books need no batteries, or WiFi. When the power is gone (thanks, RG&E), I can still read my book. And the inter-webs are just so much more efficient. And efficiency is crucial, ask any manager, boss, or other superior. Who needs time to reflect or to ponder, or wonder? Indeed.
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Certainly these books are out-of-date. Knowledge seems to expand exponentially. But this fact obscures a significant point: the fundamental concepts are still true, and do not go out-of-date. While mathematics and science expand, the root concepts and equations remain; only their applications grow. Classic literature, art and music remain. Historical facts remain, although their interpretations may shift as societal norms and values change. Do not look to old encyclopedias for the ‘latest & greatest’; instead read them for things that last and do not change, these are ideas that have ‘staying power’.
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The biggest thing I’ve lost is a wonderful place to explore. I cannot begin to count the times I’ve sat with an encyclopedia while writing a research paper in grammar school or high-school. It would take hours longer than it should for one simple reason: I’d go in looking for facts on whatever topic and read for hours on end about other little interesting things unrelated to my assignment. I’d get lost, and it was wonderful. Eventually, I was disciplined enough to get the real work out of the way, and then indulge myself by ‘getting lost’; willingly following mandate expressed by both friends and foes alike.
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Encyclopedias are dangerous books for this very reason. The same can be said for dictionaries. These are books for people who are curious; people who think. And the smell of the books? They smelled of knowledge, wisdom of ages past, and treasures waiting to be rediscovered.
What you describe is today’s “going down a rabbit hole” on YouTube. But we learned so much more doing it with the old Brittanica. You understand me so well.