Support the Free Press | Facts matter. Truth matters. Journalism mattersSalt Lake City Weekly has been Utah's source of independent news and in-depth journalism since 1984. Donate today to ensure the legacy continues.
Six Locals's mission is to survey a random-sampling of downtown's inhabitants on a pertinent topic. Extract what you will from this petri dish.
December 10th marked the birthday of Melvil Dewey, little-known legend and inventor of the Dewey Decimal System. The DDS ranks highly in under-appreciated inventions (as I eat lunch, another comes to mind: the sandwich). Used by 200,000 libraries, including Salt Lake City Public, in at least 135 countries, Dewey gets around. So, how do you Dewey? I went to the Main Library to ask:
What was the last library book you checked out and why?---
"Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. I started watching the Showtime series and enjoy it, so I thought I would check this out. Happy Birthday Dewey" - Shannon
"101 Ways to Use Your New Sewing Machine by Elizabeth Bubicki, because I just got a sewing maching from the D.I. and don't know anything about it. By the way, I heard that his wife actually invented it, and he just stole the credit." - Brandon
"Collectible Guns & Knives. It's something that really interests me. I got it right after How to Kill Someone and Get Away With It. I'm pretty much just kidding." - Scott
"Black Hills by Nora Roberts. It is for pleasure, a de-stresser. Work sucks." - Marty
"I don't even remember. I think it was for a history of dance class, ballet history to be exact. I had to study the history of Jazz and how the rhythms of African slaves influenced it, or something." - Lindsay
"A Bright Shining Line, and I'm not sure of the author. I was doing a senior thesis on private contractors in Iraq; the book was about the most well-known contractor from the Vietnam war." - Austin