Reading for Fun? Library Collection Says ‘Please Do!’

When Teodor Grosu ’26 wants to expand his understanding of the universe, he does it in two ways: studying astrophysics and reading fiction.

With his subjects of study light-years away, he finds a level of imagination inherent to the science. He has been bringing this imagination to fiction and screenwriting courses — and continues to read for pleasure on the side.

“Reading, if you do it for fun, also teaches you things, accidentally sometimes,” Grosu said. “You can find things in reading you didn’t set out to look for.”

In July, he borrowed Held by Anne Michaels after it was longlisted for the Booker Prize — writer and professor Yiyun Li, whose class Grosu is enrolled in this semester, is one of the members of the 2024 judging panel. On the inside cover of Held is a bookplate identifying the title as part of Princeton’s Dixon Collection.

Established in 1921 in memory of William Boulton Dixon 1915, the Dixon Collection uniquely assembles the most popular contemporary literature. The goal of the collection, outlined in 1920 by J. T. Gerould, librarian of the University, is to make available “everything that represents the content of the best thinking of the present, even though it may not have a permanent value.”

Today, fresh loads of between 70 and 150 Dixon books arrive weekly to the library’s processing office on Alexander Road. All primarily for leisure reading, these titles include popular fiction, nonfiction, science and music writing, and even coffee table books and travel guides. The collection has also expanded into e-books and audiobooks.

As a “restricted book fund,” the endowed Dixon fund can only be used for the purpose of acquiring titles within the Dixon definition. The collection is widely circulated for pleasure and research; last year, faculty and staff made up half of the collection’s usage, with undergraduates comprising 25% and graduate students 20%. Grosu said that while finding time to read may be a challenge, the collection encourages students to enjoy life beyond coursework.

While a “book jobber” does the general work of acquiring the titles from mainstream publishers for weekly shipment, Steve Knowlton, librarian for history and African American studies, who oversees the collection, has also been seeking out “alternative literatures”: graphic novels, books from small, independent publishers, and, newly, polemical works.

“[Today] we don’t have to limit ourselves,” said Knowlton. “What one critic may view as unworthy of respect, a reader may find a lot of enjoyment from.”

Many Dixon Collection practices are modeled after public libraries: Dust jackets are preserved under that shiny, mylar cover (the only collection in the library that does this), new titles are marked with a yellow sticker on the spine, and the collection is easily browsable on first-floor bookcases.

At the end of their six-month shelf life, though, Dixon books are not deaccessioned or weeded out, like their public library cousins. Instead, they are “de-Dixoned” down to the stacks.

Previous generations’ criticisms of contemporary holdings — like the dearth of books by John Cheever, pointed out by Edward Tenner ’65 in a 1965 library council advising meeting — are likely unsubstantiated among the expansive current collection.

Indeed, in Princeton’s collection now are almost all popular novels published from the 1930s to today. With interlibrary loan, the collection extends far beyond Princeton’s campus.

More than 2,800 titles were added in the 2023-24 academic year. And, at the time this article was written, newly released Dixon e-book titles by Louise Erdrich, 
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ina Garten, and Malcolm Gladwell already had waiting lists. 

Joan K. Martine, head of circulation at Firestone, fondly recalls emeritus faculty walking up to the front desk with stacks of Dixon books and returning two weeks later for more. She hopes more current Princeton students will take the chance to explore the collection, which curious readers can find in the Thomas-Graham Reading Room, by the solarium.

“The bulk of our collection is academic. And it’s a world-renowned collection,” said Martine. “But to have something lighter — that’s really nice.”