READ A FEW BOOKS WELL
Principal Sir Hector Hetherington, of Glasgow University, speaking at the Mitchell Library, said:— .
"There are something like 3000 books in this room, about onefifth of the annual output, of the country. That is a terrifying thought. Taking five hours as a rather moderate estimate of the time required to read one book, the display represents 15,000 hours' reading, and if we read for seven and a half hours a day; it will take us 2000 days, or nearly six years, to read even one-fifth of the annual output.
"Some people deplore that prodigious output. They seem to think that that vast quantity of books means a. deterioration not only in the quality of the books themselves, but in the quality of the attention given by readers to the books.
"There is a certain amount of truth in that. Our grandfathers, who had fewer books, exercised greater discrimination in their choice of books.
"I am perfectly certain it is much better to read a few books slowly and really well than to read a big number in a casual and slipshod fashion."'
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 102, 1 May 1937, Page 26
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186READ A FEW BOOKS WELL Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 102, 1 May 1937, Page 26
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