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# The anxiety of influence
- URL: https://www.lorcandempsey.net/the-anxiety-of-influence/
- Published: 2007-02-18T19:50:21.000Z
- Updated: 2020-10-28T09:36:48.000Z
- Author: Lorcan Dempsey
- Tags: Books, Institutions, #MPOW

[![wcidentitiescloud.png](https://www.lorcandempsey.net/content/images/wordpress/lorcan/wcidentitiescloud.png)](https://outgoing.typepad.com/outgoing/2007/02/worldcat%5Fidenti.html?ref=lorcandempsey.net)We are lucky to live a short walk from the [Whetstone branch](https://www.cml.lib.oh.us/ebranch/about%5Fcml/locations/sel%5Fbranch%5Fdetail.cfm?bldg%5Fid=150&ref=lorcandempsey.net) of [Columbus Metropolitan Library](https://www.cml.lib.oh.us/?ref=lorcandempsey.net). I was there a few months ago browsing in the literature section. I was interested to see the strong presence of [Harold Bloom](https://orlabs.oclc.org/SRW/search/NameFinder?query=local.pnkey+exact+%22bloom,%20harold%22&ref=lorcandempsey.net). There were both books by him, and collections of critical essays he edited.  
I mentioned this to [Thom](https://outgoing.typepad.com/outgoing/?ref=lorcandempsey.net) the next day, saying that it seemed to me that there was a collection development oversight here and that the Bloom influence on the overall literature collection was too great.  
A little while later, Thom came in to show me the list of top authors (ordered by volume of library holdings), which was later used to generate the cloud on [Worldcat Identities](https://orlabs.oclc.org/Identities?ref=lorcandempsey.net). And, hey, there was Harold Bloom right up there. There are a lot of libraries with a lot of Harold Bloom books! He demonstrates really remarkable reach and range!  
I notice that in his nice [note](https://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/02/worldcat%5Fidenti.html?ref=lorcandempsey.net) on Worldcat Identities, [Tim O’Reilly](https://orlabs.oclc.org/SRW/search/NameFinder?query=local.pnkey+exact+%22oreilly,%20tim%22&ref=lorcandempsey.net) also remarks on the presence of Bloom in the cloud.