What could be better than Mark Twain, Victor Hugo, Ray Bradbury, Carl Sagan, and all of those other fine folks holding forth on the importance of libraries?
Oh, plenty of things. But it’s still great. Read it here.
I’ve got a question for you: do you use your public library? Why or why not?
Josh
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I do, religiously. And you know I worship libraries, for both their lofty symbolism and their dusty reality. xox
I love everything about libraries! Especially the smell! I use our library’s website to search for books that get transferred to our local branch, I use the digital collection to download books to read on my nook, and very occasionally I get to leave my little shelf climbers at home and browse from stack to stack and find serendipitous treasures. My favorite library was the rare books room at Northwestern’s library–it was down a back hallway into the old, original section up a wide staircase with marble steps that were scooped out from years of foot traffic.
I LOVE mine. I can order books and they will even buy books they don’t stock for me. It’s lovely, clean and airy. The librarians are gorgeous – I even have a fantasy about joining them as one. But best of all (and maybe this is not revolutionary but it seems it to me) there are no fines! Ever
Every week! We go to story time and get books for everyone. Our library is super cool because it’s also the library for our local high school and the kids often have classes in there. I think it’s great for my little kids to become familiar with the school before they go there. And we go to the library because I can’t buy and store all the books I’d love to read. And half the books I never knew I wanted to read I discovered because of going to the library. Plus I’m hoping to work my way through a whole bunch more of these http://1001kidsbooks.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/on-where-the-list-of-1001-childrens-books-i-must-read-before-i-grow-up-too-much-comes-from/ and I couldn’t do it with out my trusty library.
I don’t use the library very often. I don’t like being tied to the deadline for returning books and the fines if I don’t get them back on time. We use them more for kids books than I do for books to read myself. Our library has a decent kindle book collection that I’ve started using. I’ve only checked out one kindle book so far, but I may start using it more since there aren’t really any fines for those. When they expire I just can’t read them any more.
Now that I think of it, the main reason I don’t use libaries is becuase of the fines.
I use the local library on a regular basis, mostly because it is the perfect distance to walk my dog. I love the community feeling that our library has. I usually go without a plan and just browse, waiting for something to catch my interest. You never know what kind of jewel you will find. For the most part I borrow stories on cd that I listen to in my car. I also will borrow cookbooks, travel books, self-help guides…For novels, I tend to buy those. I like to own the novels and then to farm them out to friends.
The irony is that I work in a public library and use just a few of the many services available. I will make an effort to use ALL my public library services. Thanks for the reminder Josh.
I don’t think it needs to be that way, Rene. Our library offers services I could not be less interested in. But they’re still useful to lots of people. The library’s always going to be greater than the sum of its parts, and it’s going to mean different things to different people. I think that’s one of the best things about it.
I am a reference person at a public library. So, l have to use the services to do my job. Just like anything else, there are some of the services that I have more of an interest in. Of course, I love libraries and I enjoy working with all people.
Besides books, I enjoy the library’s programs, especially when interesting people come to speak. I would love to hear “the world’s strongest librarian” speak one day.