Are you a magazine hoarder?
If so, Stockbridge Library can help you!
But, before you seek out help, you need to acknowledge that you have a problem. The realisation for me came when I discovered I had three copies of the same edition of the Sunday Times Magazine. As a New Year’s resolution, I’ve committed to substantially reducing my stockpile. The magazines I have broadly fall into three categories:
- Magazines I haven't yet read, including, I'm ashamed to say, a few still in their wrappers.
- Magazines with interesting articles I'll return to … one day. A mammoth stack of FT Weekend Magazines typifies this category.
- Magazines that I'm sure someone I know will find interesting … but who?
What are the options?
I'm loath to fling them in the nearest recycling bin. It feels a waste of something potentially valuable. Or is this a state of denial? Perhaps, as Madison Darbyshire has put it, discarding a magazine means ‘discarding the future, better person I would become when I read it’.
Charity shops are generally not receptive (unless the magazines are vintage or on some aspect of needlecraft). The little libraries that have sprouted around the city in recent years might be an option. However, since they're designed for books, finding a suitable spot to wedge magazines in can be tricky. Magazines are liable to end up a damp, squashed mess. In addition, I would not want to deny space to the Spurtle in the little library on Scotland Street.
Cheering news
Magazine hoarders not prepared to simply bin theirs will be cheered by the magazine exchange box at Stockbridge Library. It has helped me offload a fair number of magazines since I discovered it. I hope I’ve added some of interest. I've also picked up a few … I just can’t resist the sense of serendipity you have when dipping into an assortment such as this. It gives you a greater chance of finding something unusual than a logarithm or online search. It feels like a forage.
At present, you will find magazines ranging from the LRB and the (discontinued) Guardian Review to Hello and Q, the music magazine beloved by ‘50-quid blokes’. I mourned the Guardian Review when it ended its run in September 2021, after 191 editions. Its compact (A5) size meant it was ideal to read on the bus or in a cafe. While the contents are available online, the physical version offered a satisfyingly tactile, absorbing reading experience (at least until they, in a cost-saving move, switched to much thinner paper). Those who enjoy the physical, paper edition of the Spurtle will understand.
In such magazine piles, I often find gems which providentially connect to subjects I've been thinking about. Some help us ‘historicise’ present trends. Recently, I came across an issue of the New Statesman from October 1996. Across the cover the splash was: ‘The Tories are mired in sleaze and despair (in fact, they’d rather be out of power)’. A reminder of Mark Twain’s dictum that ‘history never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme’.
Lovely ruminations
A beautifully written article can also capture my attention, such as some pieces from the New Yorker, a few copies of which have been donated to the Stockbridge Library box. These include a lovely, ruminative piece by Joshua Rothman on ‘Becoming You’ (from the 3 October 2022 edition), exploring the extent to which we change character as we age. Or is it that we constantly change our perception of that change?
Discarded magazines can, amongst the inconsequential trifles and puffery, contain much to cherish. Also, something which reduces our screen time is surely something to embrace.
What will I encounter when I next dip into the box? Or should I stop defending this bad habit I need to kick? Perhaps, Stockbridge Library needs to start offering remedial sessions for the magazine hoarders of Spurtleshire.—Charlie Ellis
[Image by kstudio on Freepik.]
