VANCOUVER — In the ten years since John William began losing his sight, he has found new ways to take advantage of his vast personal library.
Right now, that involves glasses and a magnifying glass with bright lights illuminating the pages.
But he says it’s time to say goodbye to much of his collection of around 3,500 books.
“In addition to going blind, I have had four spinal surgeries and my doctor has repeatedly advised me to stop lifting objects weighing more than five pounds. Well, some of my books weigh five kilos,” he said.
Mr. William said that many of the books he owns, from a massive tome on the human cell to a rare first edition chronicling the history of the Korean War, are not available in large print or in audiobook. This is part of what motivates him to sell so many.
“When this book disappears, there will be no other book that I think is like this book. I don’t want it to go away because I die or go blind,” he said, referring to the book about the Korean War.
“I would like to pass it on to someone in their 30s or 40s, hopefully. And then they’ll keep it for 20 or 30 years and hopefully pass it on to someone else. It’s an optimistic view, I understand.”
Mr William shared a post about selling his collection in a local buy and sell Facebook group, accompanied by a huge spreadsheet detailing each title up for sale. He said he’s already found homes for hundreds of books, mostly homeschooling families and college students.
Browsing through the more than a dozen bookshelves that line most of the walls of his apartment, you might come across a portrait of oil giant ExxonMobil, books about the Cold War, or even a pocket guide to trees.
Fiction options are much rarer, something he avoids most of the time, unless you want to discuss classics like Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”
“Real life has so many incredible stories and twists and turns that anyone who reads fiction should be content to read nonfiction and know that these things really happened,” he argued.
The 68-year-old said his love for educational reading began in college where he double majored in philosophy and English literature. He later earned a master’s degree in philosophy. “I noticed that I like having them with me. I didn’t refer to them as much as I did when I was taking a class, but I liked the idea of them being at my fingertips,” he said.
His initial collection of around 400 books disappeared after Mr. William left them with a friend and went on a trip.
Throughout his life he spent much of his time traveling, including eight years in Japan.
He said he had always worked as a handyman, in construction and later in computer repair, before health forced him to retire.
Mr. William favors smaller bookstores, like Vancouver staple Duthie Books, which closed its last store in 2010, over larger national chains, because he says they offer a more curated selection hand-picked by people with the same love for books.
“I’m picking up a book because it seems like it might be interesting. I leaf through it. I look at the table of contents, or I look at whether the bibliography makes sense to me, and then, if I think the content is worth it, I’ll buy it,” he explained.
He has resigned himself to the fact that soon he will no longer be able to see, but he hopes that his books have found a good home.
“It’s coming, I’m falling into it. There’s nothing I can do about it,” he said.
