[derangedhermit]

The librarian of the adult wing of my hometown library refused my first attempt to check out books, when I was about 12. I told the juvenile wing librarian, who walked with me back to the other desk. She said: "Let him check out what he wants. He's already read all the books I have." It was an exaggeration, but not much of one. The periodicals and reference sections were on a small floor above the juvenile section, and I'd been through those, too, by that time, and she knew it. Encyclopedias are boring to read straight through. I only got through C of Compton's, I think it was, but further through Britannica - the latter had better writing. Dictionaries are better reading, there's something interesting on almost every page.