British Columbia man wants a home for thousands of books he won’t be able to read

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In the 10 years since John William began losing his vision, he has been finding new ways to enjoy his vast personal library.

Right now, that means glasses and a magnifying glass with bright lights illuminating the pages.

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But he says it’s time to say goodbye to much of his collection, some 3,500 books.

“In addition to going blind, I underwent four spinal surgeries and was warned numerous times by my doctor to stop lifting objects over five pounds. Well, some of my books weigh five kilos,” he said.

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William said many of the books he owns, from a massive tome on the human cell to a rare first edition laying out the history of the Korean War, are not available in large print or audiobook format. It’s part of what motivates him to sell so many.

“When that book disappears, there is no other book that I think is anything like that book. I don’t want that to go away because I die or go blind,” she said, referring to the book about the Korean War.

“I would like to pass it on to a person who will hopefully be in their 30s or 40s. And then they’ll keep it for 20 or 30 years and hopefully pass it on to someone else. It’s an optimistic vision, I understand it.”

William posted about the sale of his collection on a local Facebook buying and selling group, with a huge spreadsheet detailing every title for sale, and said he has already found homes for hundreds, mostly from families who house to school and university students.

As you peruse the more than a dozen bookshelves that line most of the walls of your apartment, you might come across a profile of oil giant ExxonMobil, books on the Cold War, or even a pocket guide to trees.

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The fiction options are much scarcer, which is something he mostly avoids, unless you want to chat about classics like Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”

“Real life has so many incredible stories and twists that anyone who reads fiction should be content to read nonfiction and know that these things really happened,” he said.

The 68-year-old said his love for educational reading material began in college, where he majored in philosophy and English literature and later earned a master’s degree in philosophy. “I realized that I like having them around. “I didn’t consult them as much as I did when I was in a course, but I just liked the idea that they were useful,” he said.

His initial collection of about 400 books disappeared after William left them with a friend and went on a trip.

Throughout his life he spent much of his time traveling, including eight years living in Japan.

He said he always worked as a kind of handyman, in construction and then repairing computers, before his health forced him to retire.

William has a preference for smaller bookstores, such as Vancouver’s Duthie Books, which closed its last store in 2010, over larger national chains, because, he said, they offer a more curated selection, chosen by people with a similar love of the books.

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“I’ll buy a book because it looks like it might be interesting. I’ll skim it. I look at the index, or I look to see if the bibliography makes sense to me, and then if I think the content is worthwhile, I buy it,” she said.

He said he’s resigned to the fact that he won’t be able to see soon, but hopes his books have found good homes.

“It’s coming, I’m falling for it. There is nothing I can do about it,” she said.

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