Good manners

Perhaps it's a generational thing, but I seem to appreciate "good manners" more than a lot of younger folks I know. Recently I sent out CD-ROMs of my archive to a number of local academic libraries, a gift (and, of course, a shaking of the dice toward posterity), and yesterday I received a delightful if exaggerated thank you letter from the head librarian of one of them. He overstated the value of the gift but I sincerely appreciate his effort to thank me. Indeed, a gift such as this has no logical home except an academic library. There is no other place for it. I sent out five and I'm curious how many other "thank you's" I'll receive. This first was prompt and generous and naturally my estimation of the academic institution involved rose considerably as a result. And they were the first to respond, which shows me they are on their toes. A nice letter to receive.