Library Visit
Despite working in a law-firm library, I'm not a very good library patron.
Oh, I'm good enough about returning my books on time (or, at least, paying fines when I forget to). I'm good about bringing extra books to the Library's sale desk. I'm good about talking up the Library with its incredible resources, available for free to all. I'm even good about camping out at the Library on the odd day when I'm in Writing Marathon and can't work at home.
But I don't use the Library to borrow books. I generally own far more books on my to-be-read shelf than I have time to read. Most of them I've bought, some have been gifts. A few are borrowed from friends.
And yet, I found myself reading several YA novels solely for the purpose of getting background for Super Secret Project Two. Of the four that I bought, one was tremendous, and I've already recommended it to others. One had a knock-me-down great idea, but was poorly written and worse-ly edited. Two were OK, but not for me, and not really all that helpful for SSP Two.
But I bought them all, in a fit of "I have to read these NOW and, besides, they're deductable."
So, when I thought of another title that will help with SSP Two, I decided to go by the Library. (It helped that we were dropping off seven bags of books for the book sale.) I found the title on the shelf. I brought it up to the counter to check out. I found the "self checkout" terminal.
And I discovered that my card has expired - it's been more than three years since I checked out a book.
Gulp.
A kind and tolerant librarian renewed my card (and listened to Mark and me jabbering about our love of libraries.) I've got three years before I have to renew this one.
Do you use your library? If so, do you check out books? DVDs? Music? Participate in programs?
Mindy, promising to use the card at least a *little* more often (which isn't saying much...)
Oh, I'm good enough about returning my books on time (or, at least, paying fines when I forget to). I'm good about bringing extra books to the Library's sale desk. I'm good about talking up the Library with its incredible resources, available for free to all. I'm even good about camping out at the Library on the odd day when I'm in Writing Marathon and can't work at home.
But I don't use the Library to borrow books. I generally own far more books on my to-be-read shelf than I have time to read. Most of them I've bought, some have been gifts. A few are borrowed from friends.
And yet, I found myself reading several YA novels solely for the purpose of getting background for Super Secret Project Two. Of the four that I bought, one was tremendous, and I've already recommended it to others. One had a knock-me-down great idea, but was poorly written and worse-ly edited. Two were OK, but not for me, and not really all that helpful for SSP Two.
But I bought them all, in a fit of "I have to read these NOW and, besides, they're deductable."
So, when I thought of another title that will help with SSP Two, I decided to go by the Library. (It helped that we were dropping off seven bags of books for the book sale.) I found the title on the shelf. I brought it up to the counter to check out. I found the "self checkout" terminal.
And I discovered that my card has expired - it's been more than three years since I checked out a book.
Gulp.
A kind and tolerant librarian renewed my card (and listened to Mark and me jabbering about our love of libraries.) I've got three years before I have to renew this one.
Do you use your library? If so, do you check out books? DVDs? Music? Participate in programs?
Mindy, promising to use the card at least a *little* more often (which isn't saying much...)
It's pretty sporadic when I take out books. Usually some topic will suddenly interest me (ie Feng Shui) and I'll spend a couple weeks checking out and reading books on the topic. Then it might be a month or two before I'm back doing the same thing again.
Usually when I'm in there looking for a book on a certain topic I'll randomly browse through the new book area and grab a couple fiction books while I'm at it.
The state of Minnesota has a free interlibrary loan system... and upon realising that some people have to pay for them, I feel the need to use it even more. :D
I'm becoming rather fond of grabbing obscure foreign movies, most recently John Woo movies, and usually a nonfiction, currently diplomatic WWI things, to peruse alongside the fictions.
And hopefully that all makes sense as I'm not very awake...
I wish all libraries could be that cool. :/
Then she put DC Fontana's "Vulcan's Glory" in the children's section, "because it's Star Trek and that's for kids".
I found "The Forever War" and "The Cold Cash War" in the "WWII" section, because the title included the word War.
And the only reason there were any Anne McCaffrey books in the library was she'd once read one of Anne's "romance" novels, so she thought that was what Anne wrote all the time - so all those Pern books were in with the bodice rippers (well, ok, there was just a touch of that in some of Anne's SF, but still *g*) and she wouldn't be told different. In fact when she was, she said "if I'd known that (they were SF), they'd never have been purchased".
I don't go as often as all that, but in the summer we go there more often. Ry likes to play in the children's area, and I usually spend some time with the dreaded notebook.
I should go more often, but they often don't have the latest YA releases when I want to read them, which is usually five minutes after they hit the shelves.
Reminds me...I have a whole pile to go to the sale...
That was when I was either broke most of the time or in one of the numerous unsettled phases of my life when I didn't buy things because I was moving all the time.
Once I achieved a certain degree of both financial and locational stability, I started using libraries less often and buying books instead.
And then, alas, my chemical sensitivities worsened to the point that if anyone who uses some scented hand care product has ever touched the pages of a book, I have to bake that book at low temperature for about a month before I cna read it. This made borrowing books rather difficult.
These days, I mostly use libraries as sources of rare, out-of-print books I've decided I simply have to read. I usually have to do an interlibrary loan for such books, and when they arrive, I photocopy the book in its entirety. Then I go home and put the photocopy in the oven for a month (photocopiers/laser printers/etc. also leave a substantial chemical fume residue that I can't tolerate) and then read it.
Long live libraries.
And even although my uni has numerous libraries I only use the art one, which is heaven for creative things. It's great to be able to just pick a shelf and I'll more than likely find something to interest me :) I'm really going to miss it when I graduate. I'm thinking after I graduate the local libraries will interest me more again.
Books, always. DVDs occasionally, but I end up returning them without having watched them half the time. Music when they've got something I want, but it seems that so many things I want have been borrowed and not returned. (*growls* don't those fools know about ripping to .mp3s?)
I do know that the last time I changed wallets, I threw out my library card because it was 1)expired and 2)still in my name from my first marriage. (Current marriage and resulting name change was 10+ years ago.)
I used to use that library all the time. I was there three or four times a week to look things up in reference books, read big city newspapers and magazines I didn't need to subscribe to. I checked out five or six books a week (mostly non-fiction for research for writing projects, but always at least one fiction). More in the summer when I was on vacation from school.
What happened?
Teaching salary moved into the realms where I could afford to buy the fiction books I wanted to read.
A mall came to town, with a Waldenbooks where I could go to buy books instead of having to use the library ones. Later, a Borders opened only 25 miles away, and then a Barnes & Noble about an hour's drive away.
I started using the Internet for research instead of encyclopedias and non-fiction books.
I married a man who owned more books than I did and who was expert enough on so many topics that I often found myself getting explanations from him or using his reference books that had moved into the house.
;^)
I actually use libraries in towns other than my own more often than my own local library. Stuck downtown for two hours before a meeting? Drop into the library. It's also interesting to see how the community uses the facility--I look at the bulletin boards, note whether they have authors come for talks, or writer's workshops, or kids' after-school reading programs, or book sales, or what.
My local library has an added attraction--a pair of peregrine falcons who nest on an upper pediment! Pretty cool.
Gack!
IN any case, I buy most of my books anyway.