Library Magic?

[The Athenian Gentleman]

As magic books can be hard to find and I am a bit new to it, I am curious about public libraries. In your experience, do public librarys have very good selection?

Thanks

 

[RealityOne]

Public libraries usually have a several magic good magic books. It is worth checking out. Also, many libraries can borrow books from other libraries. Many libraries have their card catalogue on-line.

I'm curious, why do you say magic books can be hard to find? Are you talking about finding them in libraries or finding them to purchase?

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

As magic books can be hard to find and I am a bit new to it, I am curious about public libraries. In your experience, do public librarys have very good selection?

Thanks

It really depends on where you live. In Las Vegas, there was a pretty good amount of magic books at the library near Centennial.

However, where I'm at in Texas, hardly any magic resources whatsoever. I'm in a bit of a smaller town though

 

[Josh Burch]

In my county I have several libraries to chose from. My college also has an inter library loan program. Basically this means if I find a magic book at any College in the state they will ship it to my house for free.

The best library books that I have found at my local library in no particular order are:

Self Working Table Magic by Karl Fulves
Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer
My First magic Book by Laurence Leyton
The Amazing Book of Cards by Joshua Jay
Mathemagics by Arthur Benjamin
Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic

 

[Ziad Khayat]

Libraries are weird. There's no telling what might turn up. Same with used book stores. Whenever I'm in one I always check just to see what turn up. So far my most interesting finds are:
Hiding the Elephant
The Magician and the Cardsharp
The Royal Road to Card Magic
Expert Card Technique
Phantoms of the Card Table
Action With Cards.

 

[Maaz Hasan]

The Dewy Decimal Code for Magic is 793.8
Try searching with that, because library searches aren't always the best, especially when your subject is a commonly used adjective that shows up in titles.

I wasn't hardcore about magic back when I lived in Philly (because I was still a kid/early teen before I moved, and didn't know that most magic was possible without super fancy machines), but I just checked the online catalog of the (pretty small) local library from back there and found 5 or 6 books that actually seem useful (along with a Criss Angel Mindfreak book...). There are probably a lot more from the "big" library we got stuff from sometimes.

I'm assuming that if you go to library's near major cities, or areas that have been fully developed for a while, you are more likely to find magic related books. However, if you go to a developing or newer area (like the one I now live in), you're gonna probably find less stuff (there are literally 3 books about magic in my local library system, all by the same author, and all about 20 pages long.)

I would recommenced picking up a book from Amazon. They are fairly cheap, and give you a lot of information. A great book is
"The Royal Road to Card Magic" by Jean Hugard and Fredrick Braúe. It builds you up from the absolute basic shuffle, all the way up to advanced moves like the Pass, Changes, and Reverses. It is essentially 230 pages full of thoroughly explained slights and moves, followed by another 50 pages of great tricks and routines, along with some performance and ethic tips. Here is a link, in case you're interested:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0...08434&linkId=1c696cc2b780a2f555e5f68b9298b478

Its only $3 on kindle, and only $10 on paperback.

Good Luck!

 

[RickEverhart]

The public libraries in my area tend to usually have about 5-8 books which "rarely" ever get checked out so they don't ever pitch a fit when you renew them again and again. Ha. Always check out library books. Some real gems are hidden in the older magic books. Where do you think most of the newer material that gets released originated?
It's the same thing just dressed differently.

 

[Josh Burch]

The public libraries in my area tend to usually have about 5-8 books which "rarely" ever get checked out so they don't ever pitch a fit when you renew them again and again. Ha. Always check out library books. Some real gems are hidden in the older magic books. Where do you think most of the newer material that gets released originated?
It's the same thing just dressed differently.

Yep, I used to like when they had a log of all the dates when certain books were checked out in the backs of the books. I'd look through and see that I checked out a book 4 times in the last 5 years and no one else took a look at it in that time!

 

[RealityOne]

Yep, I used to like when they had a log of all the dates when certain books were checked out in the backs of the books. I'd look through and see that I checked out a book 4 times in the last 5 years and no one else took a look at it in that time!

Wait, you're supposed to return the books?

 

[Josh Burch]

Wait, you're supposed to return the books?

Haha, I remember David Williamson talking about checking out all of the books from his library to keep all the secrets for himself.

 

[RealityOne]

Haha, I remember David Williamson talking about checking out all of the books from his library to keep all the secrets for himself.

Exactly, cutting down on exposure.

Does anyone know how to make 10 years of overdue fees disappear?

 

[Josh Burch]

Does anyone know how to make 10 years of overdue fees disappear?

Yes I do! Change your name and leave the country.