During a trip to Washington, D.C. earlier this year, I found some time to drop by the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. For those of you who've never had the chance to visit, I recommend you make it part of your next trip to the capital.

Some of my personal highlights included the Papers of Frederick Douglass and the stunning Main Reading Room. But as a card-carrying bibliophile, I spent the most time in the room housing Thomas Jefferson's Library. Jefferson, who famously told John Adams, “I cannot live without books,” acquired thousands over his lifetime, amassing the largest personal library in the U.S. at that time. This reconstruction includes 2,000 volumes from his original collection, along with an additional 3,000 matching those lost in two fires over the years.

Yes, the sheer numbers are impressive, but what blew me away was the breadth and depth of knowledge on display. As the LOC website notes, “He read and collected, in their original languages, Greek and Latin classics, books of contemporary 18th-century European philosophers and thinkers. Jefferson also bought and used books on politics, law and history…art, architecture, music, and science.”

In a time where our collective curiosity seems to diminish a little more every day and many rely on the untrustworthy and dangerous medium of social media to gather ideas and build opinions, a polymath like Jefferson provides needed inspiration for people who strive to know more about the world and those with whom we share it.

As the Library's Mark Dimunation notes, “He was building a scholar's library to meet his needs as a philosopher, statesman, diplomat, scientist, planter, architect, musician and scholar…Books fed not only his theoretical, intellectual life but also served his daily needs for information.”

Over the years, I've noticed the important role that books play in the lives and careers of so many benefits professionals I speak with. Countless conversations include some variation of, “Hey, have you ever read…?” In fact, this month's Face of Change interview with Kassi O'Brien (page 8) includes just such a recommendation.

For our August Action Reaction question, I decided to have a little fun and poll our readers about their favorites. So grab and pen and paper, flip to page 38, and see if you can bolster your To Be Read list. You'll find plenty of good reads to help your business, and a few that are just for fun. And be sure to send me your own picks. If there's one thing all book lovers agree on, it's that you can never have too many!

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"Hey, have you ever read...?"

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