I like the building where I attend sacrament meeting. The chapel is amphitheater-like because all of the side benches face the pulpit at an angle. Another thing I like about it: the library has been around long enough to be stocked with some pretty good stuff. I asked the ward librarian for a map of the United States this morning. The map he produced is pictured below. Copyright Deseret Book 1929. I used to say nothing cool comes out of DB. I take it back. It’s only been 80 years!
This got me thinking about ward libraries. I like the concept. And the old ones I have inspected are packed with uncorrelated oddities and treasures. But it seems like they could somehow be more and do more. Any thoughts? And can you imagine a ward library stocked with Mormon literature? (Thanks for the chalk and eraser, Brother Jones. While I’m here, can I put a hold on Angel Falling Softly?)
A Motley Vision 
My gateway to the world of Mormon letters was the library at the Berkeley Institute. It had 5 whole shelves worth of Mormon fiction and poetry.
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I know that map!
My library at the Berkeley Ward is not as extensive as that at the Berkeley Institute, but it does have some easily accessed treasures. And the Bakersfield Institute had books I loved to thumb through but that was before I had really aligned myself with Mormon lit. A small room with floor-to-ceiling shelves and the only book I remember is No Ma’am That’s Not History. What a missed opportunity!
While in Toronto, I stumbled across a complete collection of Improvement Eras. Amazing.