The Value of Information

I was fascinated the other day, while helping a patron at the reference desk, because he was trying to track down a book from the 70s on solar heating. We have the book in the Library, but he wanted to buy a copy of his own. "It's THE book on solar heating," he said. We checked a few online bookstore sources, and it's available to buy used - but for $150.00!! Whoa!

Who would have thought that we all have little goldmines in our basements, of rare books from the 70s, that we might get big cash for. They're sure not what I think of as 'rare books'. Especially with those 1970s graphic design covers.

I, myself, tried to find a used copy of Ceri Hadda's coffee cakes recipe book the other day (this is THE book on coffee cakes, by the way). It's out of print, but you can get it used starting at $50.00. And she seems to have published a (similarly out of print) book on cupcakes, too, that I've never seen. I bet that's gotta be good. Hmm. Time for a bit of interlibrary loan, I think.