An open book is on the shelf of Phi Beta Delta. Even the smallest chapter budget can afford the presentation of an occasional book to the library, and of course books make wonderful commemorative gifts to recognize a student or faculty member's accomplishments. As an honor society, we have a strong interest in supporting libraries and certainly every chapter should make itself known to the library staff of its institution and seek ways to support the library.
A nice chapter evening could be had by asking everyone to bring and read a little from their favorite book. Someone has said that the good life is one where the day is spent in the garden and the night in one's library. Well, without belaboring the similarity between a garden's flowers and a library's books, it is true that as members of Phi Beta Delta we have a special reason for appreciating books and libraries because they transcend national boundaries -- Russians and French and Mexicans and North Americans happily coexist on the shelves together.
In books we can visit all those places we hope to visit in the flesh, talk with all those famous foreign personages we wish we could have met, and become more international in our intelligence. In Phi Beta Delta we ask that our members have a background of foreign experience -- if they live in Mexico, then to travel perhaps to the United States, if they live in Switzerland, perhaps to travel to Italy. In any event, we should also travel intellectually, and we are lucky that most of us live near a library, which can take us abroad even quicker than on an airplane.
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