Long before the internet, there were dictionaries and encyclopedia sets. In 1921, librarians at the New York Library were stunned when lines of people formed just to read the dictionaries on their shelves. It got so bad, they had to limit how long each person spend with a dicitionary.
Limit Dictionary Reading
New Yorkers have developed such a passion for reading the dictionary that a time limit of three minutes has been placed on perusers at the New York Library.
A librarian is posted at the dictionary shelf to keep the line moving.
Library officials are mystified as to the cause of the sudden accession of interest in dictionaries, but assert they will have to arrange for extra “beds” in the book hospital if the crush continues.
Source: Americus times-recorder. (Americus, Ga.), 09 Sept. 1921.
