I have been very excited about this new encyclopedia. Because I have been very excited about the new encyclopedia, I've been telling nearly everyone I know that I have a new encyclopedia. I've also been telling people that I'm reading it.
At least three people now have expressed dismissal or dismay at the thought of my reading it front to back. The most common suggestion I've gotten is "You could just read the articles that interest you!"
...No? Also yes?
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The entire thing interests me. That's the point.
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I don't want to skip around. This isn't Wikipedia.
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If I only read what I think my "interests" are, there are articles I will just never read. I'll assume I already know what's in them, or that they won't hold my attention.
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See #1: What I think my interests are is a far narrower topic than what will actually capture my attention and interest.
For example: This morning I read the entry on "addition." Until about six months ago, I would have insisted this topic did not interest me. Until this morning, I would have dismissed it on the grounds that "I already know what that is and how to do it, what could I possibly get from reading this?"
Answer: A lot.
The 2024 World Book entry on "addition" actually explains how to do addition. It covers several pages and begins with the counting of semi-concrete objects (here, pictures of apples). It then proceeds through abstraction with colored circles, number lines, and numbers themselves, through "counting together" and "counting on," to estimation, number families, and how to check one's work.
It is, in fact, an excellent encapsulation of current best practices in teaching addition, written at level early readers can understand. I'm very impressed with it; I almost wish I could compare an encyclopedia written around my early elementary years.
I would never have known this if I'd "just read what interests" me.
I now know where to find a concise, well-written explanation of how to do addition, starting with the most basic concepts. that I can share with anyone who can read English - and that I could read to anyone who can't. That's a really useful thing for a school librarian to have. Heck, I'd argue it's a really useful thing for any human being to have.
So while I appreciate some people's desire to protect me from their own discomfort at the thought of reading 14,000 plus pages distributed over 21 volumes*, no thank you. I will not be "just reading what interests me." I will be reading the entire thing.
- The set has 22 volumes, but the last is an index, which I will not be reading. I may read the study and research guides in the front, however.