In an uncertain world, there is something reassuring about librarians: that combination of faith in the power of published ideas, confidence in the safe storage and rational organisation of thought.
Take today's posting by Edinburgh City Libraries. It concerns a book by the splendidly named Nathaniel Lachenmeyer – 13: The World's Most Popular Superstition – which apparently unravels the truth behind this 'most enduring of suspicions' (including its surprising 20th-century origin in a work of fiction).
We like the fact that Edinburgh City Libraries sensibly chose to post this today, not yesterday or tomorrow. We like the no-nonsense, irony-free way its subject matter is described in the online catalogue: 'Thirteen (The number), Friday the thirteenth, Superstition'.
We urge you to read it. But hurry ... despite citywide publicity there is only one copy available in the whole of Edinburgh and its 212 pages are held in Fountainbridge. Good luck.