An obscure and wonderful gem
July 13th, 2006 | Published in Google Books
One of the best parts of being on the Google Book Search team is hearing from people who have discovered books that create unexpected personal connections. One of these stories was emailed to us by a man named Bernie Robichau. Like many people, Bernie experimented with Book Search by doing a search on his last name. As he was browsing the second page of results, he came across Plymouth Labor and Leisure. Clicking on this title brought him to page 32, which contained a photo of his great uncle Earl from the Plymouth Cordage Baseball team, circa 1914.
Bernie bought a couple copies of the book and gave one to his housebound father, who had spent a lot of time in Plymouth as a child. The photo brought back recollections from years past. Bernie writes:
Never before could I have found such an obscure and wonderful gem... I sat for long periods of time over Thanksgiving listening to my father recount memories triggered by Mr. Baker's book. Google, along with the publishing company, brought some unexpected happiness to someone who really needed it.
As we continue adding books to Google Book Search, it's my hope and belief that more and more connections like this will occur between people and their past. For more stories like this one, check out this article from our last Librarian Newsletter.