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elm's avatar

¨Before discussing edging any further, it is first necessary to discredit the barbarous practice of backing.¨

elm the barbarian here. {swings axe around}

elm

the directions for the package installation left something to be desired

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Peter Lor's avatar

The picture of neat shelves brought to mind a sign that was often seen in offices: "A clean desk is the sign of a cluttered mind". And of course the famously cluttered desk of Albert Einstein. That led me on a wild Google chase through the conflicting pronouncements on clean and cluttered desks, e.g. https://www.ableventures.in/cluttered-desk-cluttered-mind-empty-desk/, and

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2011/02/post_165.html.

For me as a retired South African librarian who makes a habit of visiting and photographing small-town public libraries (https://peterlor.com/library-abc/), neat shelves are a worrying symptom. Neat shelves (edged or not) point to unused libraries, where it is easy to photograph the books, but often patrons (who makes for more engaging pictures) are few and far between. A moderate degree of disorder is good; it shows that the books are used.

Peter Lor, Knysna, South Africa

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