New Orleans is a place where people enjoy reading. At book signings in our cherished local bookstores, folks line up to hear and meet the authors. A lot of the writers are from New Orleans. Because if you aren't reading - or even if you are - you're probably writing.

For a while, everyone was writing their post-Katrina memoir. In fact, there are still new Katrina memories appearing on the bookshelves. The story has been told from hundreds of perspectives.

But people also write about the music, the food, the French, the architecture, the races, the history, the ineffable culture. Because we can't ever get enough of it. We have to know more.

So, I wasn't too surprised to find a miniature lending library on Louisiana Avenue where I was walking the other day. Somebody had taken the time to build a cabinet like a huge bird feeder and place books inside it - for people to borrow or loan. It had a glass door with a wooden latch.

I stopped to examine the selection. There were children's books and business books and romance novels. I wondered if they might not get moldy in this incessant rain. But maybe they circulate quickly enough.

It was just another charming reminder of how different this place is from other cities.