Saturday, March 29, 2008

Bibliophiles of Oklahoma Report

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Meeting 2: We're growing! We had 6 in attendance! For those who missed the last after-action report, that is double what we had last time. At this rate, every human in Oklahoma will belong in about a year and a half! That is certainly exciting. If dues were only $1, we'd have a budget of over $3M! Three million dollars would buy a lot of book fun. Well, not for 3 million people though.

As long as I'm dishing out some reality, I'm also not being wholly honest. The 6 attendees includes my wife who just got off work and needed a bite. But it's not like she's a book *hater*, so she counts too.

The original 3 were joined by two more members. M collects modern firsts. From our chat I would classify him as a late-stage protocollector. Our other new member, JB, is a life long collector who collects books related to his record collection and antique audio equipment. He is perhaps an early-stage protocollector.

One thing I have learned trying to start a collector's society is that many people are reluctant to refer to themselves as collectors. Why is that? It seems some believe book collectors have to spend thousands of dollars on every leather-bound purchase. Some collectors do, but for most of us, that just isn't the case. I've started referring to people who accumulate books along with a general idea or nucleus as protocollectors. Can you tell I once pursued archaeology as a career? Perhaps I need to work up a scale, or evolutionary chart of progression... hmmmm. Stay tuned.

The meeting was fun and even a little productive. We hashed out some ideas to promote BoOK and also set dates for future meetings. So, if you'd care to join us, check out the website for details. The next two meetings will be 4/24 and 5/22, 7-9 pm. Those times are -ish.

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