I love the library. I can't say that strongly enough. I think the public library system in the U.S. is one of best things ever, a great and stupendous gift for which I cannot be too grateful.
Naturally enough, this paean is inspired by a visit to the library. A flying visit, to check out two DVDs and a book I had reserved. The library system I use has an online catalog, so I can look things up anywhere I have an Internet connection. If the book or CD or DVD I want is at my local branch, I can go get it--the online catalog pretty much says where everything is, so I can head off to the library knowing where I'm going.
On the other hand, if the material I want isn't at my local branch, I can request it, still on-line. How easy is that? I can check to see the status of my requests online, too. (For example, I'm 66th in line for the newest Nora Roberts.) I can tell when books are in transit from a different branch; I can tell when they've arrived. But even if I didn't check, I'd still know--I get an e-mail when the items come in, telling me they're ready.
But that's mostly gravy. The really cool thing about the library is that it encourages me to try new things, new authors I might not otherwise try. Even if I had all the money in the world to buy all the books in the world, I don't have room to store them all...and not all the books I might want to read are in print.
But even out-of-print books live on in the library. Classics and bestsellers and oddities I might see when I was looking for something else. Sometimes I'll go to the library with a couple of vague ideas about what I want, and I'll wander around the stacks, picking up everything and anything that catches my eye.
I don't love everything I find this way...but I love a lot of it. How great is that?
So raise a glass to the public library, one of the best things ever.
Just ruminations on everything under the sun...
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
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4 comments:
Amen! I work right near the Boston Public Library main branch, and I'm in there almost every week.
Do you know about LibraryElf? You give it your library card info, and it sends you email not only when reserves come in, but also as a reminder when books are due soon (or overdue). You can also have more than one library card assigned to an account, handy f you use more than one library network, or want info for more than one family member.
That's my beloved Library too. A work friend and I even turned into a verb: "You wanna BPL this week?" "Absolutely--I have books due..."
I just get warm and glowy thinking about it...
I ADORE the public library. And I love their online catalog that lets me order up books from other branches. It's as good as Amazon, but it's free. What's not to love??
I love the library too. It was my favorite place as a child. Imagine taking home a stack of books taller than me for FREE!
Working at my own city library was such a great job. Being surrounded by all those books every day was the best thing ever.
It brought me a great deal of joy to issue the little ones their first library cards. It didn't matter what city they lived in or how much money their parents made, they had access to the same books (videos, dvds, periodicals, etc) that everyone else did. A true testiment to the best we have to offer in our society.
Kim:)
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