March 3, 2011
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Ode to the library
When I was in elementary school, my parents only allowed me to go out if I said I was going to the library. It was about 5-6 blocks away and for someone so young, an adventure everytime. I would go there, look for as many books as I could carry back, which ranged from 10-16, depending on the size of the books. I remember reading all the Encyclopedia Brown books and were probably my favorite growing up.
As soon as I began collecting and buying books, I stopped going to the library. It wasn’t until about 6-7 months ago that I convinced myself that going to the library is not only convenient, but would also save me a ton of money since I read so often.
Once again, going to the library was an adventure. I browsed through a ton of books on my first day there and wondered why I stopped going in the first place.
Not only are there shelves of DVDs of movies and TV shows available, you can literally find any book you want online. It will tell you how many copies they have throughout the system and how many “holds” there are on each book. If my branch didn’t have it, they would ship it from another and put it on reserve for me. Once it gets to my branch, I would get an email that it would it be there for 10 days.
The next best thing after reserving online is being able to renew online as well. I just log in, click renew and viola, I have it for 3 more weeks.
Since rediscovering the library, I have read about 50+ books easily, much more than when I was purchasing them. When I was buying, I had to set a limit to about one a week. Now I read between 1-3 books a week, depending if I decide to read outside my normal reading hours of 8-9am and 7-8pm, during my commute to and from work.
It’s a surprise that very few of my friends take advantage of such a resource. Not only is there a huge selection, it’s FREE!
Luckily, my library is open 7 days a week and only about 2 blocks away. I can’t shake off how convenient it is!
What’s your relationship with the library?
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Comments (26)
I luv the library, have since I was a little kid. I’ve never been able to walk to the library tho. All the different places we’ve lived have been at least an 8 to 18 minute commute. I know that’s really precise, but I worked at two of the three libraries in the diff cities we were in, so I know exactly how long it takes to drive to them. ^o^
But yeah, I was the kid who got in trouble for reading too much. Mom was constantly coming in and taking books away from me, cuz I wouldn’t realize it was 2am/3am etc. Now, I try to limit myself. I don’t have the train commute convenience, so I tend to get wrapped up in a book and spend way longer than planned reading.
There are some awesome topics available in the non-fiction section that people don’t realize. I remember shelving certain books over and over again, and then running across something awesome in the next section that never got checked out. The Reference section can be a bit dry unless your looking for something, but the non-fiction/history sections are AWESOME! =D
Sorry, I’m kinda blathering, but I luv the library. Being a page was my first job and I was there for 2 years. Despite the sometimes creepy people who hang out in public libraries, it’s still one of my favourite places in the world. Book stores, libraries, and art musuems/galleries. =)
I haven’t been since post highschool for leisure reading.
encyclopedia brown was the shizznit, i ate them up
i have a library right on my block, used to abuse it like crazy renting mad movies but don’t have time now except for saturdays
Oh man, same here. The library isn’t close, but there was a branch very close to me at my old apartment. I like ordering comic books. Lots of batman, and superman anthologies.
ah, you write about libraries. Going straight for my heart.
Encyclopedia Brown!! I miss those books…
The library is not far from my house either, and I don’t take advantage of my library card even though I should. I do go there to study… ’cause really, there’s no slacking there although I enjoy the school library much much more.
libraries are awesome! I borrowed the Millenium trilogy DVDs from the library, good movies. Go watch it after you’re done with the books.
@sugarvirgo - I’ve finished watching them already. The first movie was terrible. Second one was better and third one was a step better. Overall, all of them sucked.
-ray leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I wish I had more time to go to the library, but unfortunately the only time I go is during school breaks or in the summer. And I agree. The library is much more enjoyable now since you can rent movies and tv shows too.
oh man i loved going to the library as a kid. my problem was borrowing the same books over & over! i still went there in high school cause i hit a danielle steel phase and read every book of hers my library had to offer. but since hs i’ve probably only borrowed one book which was 5 years ago. i think i would go more if it were closer and had better hours.
plus, i’ve been trying to read more classics and a lot of them are free on kindle! just finished “persuasion” by jane austen the other day. i’ve only read 2 of her books but i’m starting to really love her
@manoagirl7 - I hope the other one is Pride and Prejudice?
-ray leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
there are places that house books? Is it like a room full of kindles? or is it more like an Amazon.com warehouse?
Whats the difference between a Brown Encyclopedia and Wikipedia?
I love the library because the books are free… but I also hate it because too many people know about it and take all the popular books before I can get to them! Also, it has started to become bothersome for me to lug a bunch of stuff around, so I have turned to reading my books on the iPad. Very convenient!
i love the library because its free! i often go there to get childrens books and recipe books and i sometimes i have to put them on hold because so many people are going to the libary these days and taking the books i want! and i go to the library cause the internet is free
sometimes i want my own ‘library’ at home… i like to have a wall of books
i was a huge book worm growing up. and then, i started junior high. getting dropped off at the library was the perfect place for me to grab some books, then ditch the library, and meet up with boys at the park next to it. lol. i remember using the pay phone outside to call my crushes as well because my parents monitored all my phone calls and never let boys call the house. haha..oh fond library memories indeed.
Public libraries are convenient. I make use of it here, too. Though I wish they had more of my-interest books for loaning (instead of in the reference section.
I love my library. It’s awesome and I enjoy going there to look through the books and borrow some. My library also has a small book store so I can buy books from them at good prices.
Going to the library really is an adventure and I hope to be able to go more over the Spring and Summer.
I go to my college one to study ;(.
@jigg - yep pride & prejudice! i love that book… reread it so many times! i also love the movie version with keira knightley. next on the austen read-list is sense & sensibility. have u read it?
the library is definitely a place of solace for me, there’s something about the feel of an actual book rather than something electronic like the kindle that makes the experience so much more personal.
have you ever tried going to the salvation army to buy used books? they have a really great selection and super cheap–I bought two books the other day for $2.18, such a steal!
i <3 the public library. you should check out the one in cupertino some day. it’s always packed, especially on weekends. and, they have a giant salt water fish tank by the entrance.
I love the library! I also used to go there all the time to use the Wifi when I didn’t have internet in my apartment.
I love the library and check out books all the time. It’s much cheaper than buying them, I usually only buy now if I really want to read a book and the library doesn’t have it. Right now I have a pile of 6 different books waiting for me to dive into it that I got from the library just the other day.
Ugh…When I was a kid, I would enjoy the library for the reasons you would. But at the same time. I’d hate it. Why? Because I would be forced there all the time and be there all day doing hw and studying superbooks that my Mom would assign me to complete >.< . And what was worse. We were there all the time cause there was no AC for us in the summertime much. Come to think of it now, It’s actually one of the places I go to a lot on my own because it’s pretty much the place I can get the most out of my productivity for school lol
I love the library. I don’t care when my friends or other people call me a nerd. I reserve most books since the public library is right next to my school and I can get it whenever. When I was little, I would go there to reserve a computer since I had no internet access at home to play neopets. I would read a whole bunch of mystery series and manga too. :]
When I was little, I used to get about thirty of those kiddie novels at a time. I stopped reading much more than Harry Potter and a couple other kiddie series I liked, once I hit high school. It was also about the only place I could go alone to get out of the house. =) Now, I’ve been working at the school library and the city’s public library for the past few years, so the magic has more or less dissipated. I mostly just take out any textbooks they might have for my classes, and have had to learn not to take out every interesting book that I see…cause I never end up having time to read them. haha