Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Jason Cosmo was first published by NAL/Signet in 1989 and in the U.K. by Pan Books in 1990. My debut novel was a mass market paperback original — which is the equivalent of a movie going straight to DVD. I realize that hardback is considered more prestigious but, honestly, I’m not sure I would pay thirty bucks or more to read Jason Cosmo–and I wrote it! The Jason Cosmo series is unabashedly and unashamedly pop fiction, genre fiction, pulp fiction–take your pick. It is not intended to deliver some profound message or deep insight into the human condition. I mean, come on, there is a talking strawberry in this book!

My sole purpose is to entertain you for a few hours, depending on how fast you read. Hopefully you’ll laugh at the parts that are supposed to be funny–and not at the parts that aren’t. That’s all I ask. So paperback is good enough for me.

And, apparently, for the New York Public Library.

I have always loved libraries. My affection for large congregations of books goes like this: 1) Libraries 2) Used Bookshops, preferably with the books spilling out onto the floor and stacked dangerously close to the ceiling. Ideally with a cat in residence. 3) Chain bookstores that sell overpriced coffee.

I practically grew up in the local public library. I was in the Summer Reading Club. In elementary and middle school, I would sneak inside at recess to sit in the library. In high school, I was there before class, after class, during lunch and between classes. At university, same thing. I roamed the shelves at random. I checked out books that had not been borrowed in decades, if ever. When I had a job that allowed me borrowing privileges at the Library of Congress, I ordered up ten or twelve books at a time. I love the library — and if you have anything bad to say about libraries, I will fight you.

Even so, I will confess that I never thought of Jason Cosmo, Royal Chaos, and Dirty Work as library books. At the local public library I frequented as a young lad, there was a spinning rack loaded with ragged paperbacks that you could check out, but they weren’t arranged in any kind of order. I’m not sure they were even listed in the card catalog, which is the penultimate insult for a library book. (For you Millennials a “card catalog” was like an online catalog made of paper). Paperback books were the Dalits of the Dewey Decimal System, the unclean underclass, the proles of print.

Naturally, I read them by the armload.

I never had any expectation that my paperback originals would end up in any library, except perhaps in the aforementioned refugee book rack. The only exception of which I was aware until recently was the school library of my high school alma mater, Oconee County High School (Go Warriors!). In a very special ceremony the Beta Club (of which I was a former president) or maybe the Student Council (of which I was also a former president) presented the school library with copies of Jason Cosmo and Royal Chaos. Copies which, as I recall, had aftermarket hardback covers bolted on so that they could reside on the shelves with the respectable books. I don’t know if they are still in the OCHS Library collection (or if anyone ever checked them out). Perhaps some current student could let me know.

Enter Google.

Yes, I Google myself frequently. Sometimes several times a day. I just like to make sure that I still exist. Because remember kids — if it isn’t on the internet, it’s not real.

Anyhow, Google has a cool feature called Google Book Search. Which, among other things, will point you to WorldCat.org, where you can search the electric online catalogs of libraries around the world and tell you which libraries have a particular book in their collections.

This is how I recently learned that the New York Public Library has Jason Cosmo on the shelf. I thought that was pretty cool.

You can also check out my books from the Ohio State University library in Columbus, Ohio … Boston Public Library (Boston, Mass.) … Grand Rapids Public Library (Grand Rapids, Michigan) … Rainsville Public Library (Rainsville, Alabama) … Danville Public Library (Danville, Illinois) … Dallas Public Library in Dallas, Texas (3 copies!) … and libraries in Olathe, Kansas … Aurora, Colorado … Tempe, Arizona … Riverside, California … and a few dozen more.

But what if you’re in Europe? Well then, just head over to Trinity College, Dublin. Or the British Library, Wetherby branch. Or Wolverhampton City Library. The Greenwich Public Library has Jason Cosmo.

So does the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

Something I wrote is shelved in one of the oldest and most famous libraries in the world. Scary.

Cambridge University has it too. Though it is “not borrowable”. Too valuable to circulate, I suppose.

All very posh, you say, but what if I live in the Southern Hemisphere? No problem! Try the Wellington City Library in New Zealand. You can also get your fix of Cosmo mirth in Perth, at Murdoch University Library.

I had no idea my book was in such wide circulation. Some authors get bent out shape over the idea of people reading their books for free in the library (or buying used copies). I get their point about lost sales. But so what? Obviously, I love paying customers and I want my books to sell, but I’m not the @!%& RIAA.

To me, being against libraries is like being against air. Much of the knowledge I’ve managed to stuff into my head, along with many hours of enjoyment, came from library books. I owe a great debt of gratitude to libraries–and the librarians who staff them. So I am both thrilled an honored to know that my little books have a home on library shelves around the world.

If you haven’t been in a while, why not visit your local public library? I’m sure they’d be glad to see you. While you’re there, see if they have the collected works of Dan McGirt and let me know by posting a comment.

Best regards,
Dan McGirt