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All I remember from the last time I was in one, was that there's lots of books (the exact one of which you desire is definitely already checked out, with a waiting list of at least 3 other people), and you have to be very quiet...

 

This is quite embarrassing.  As previously mentioned, I have lived in my current neighborhood for 30 years.  But until yesterday, I had never stepped foot into my local public library, just a 20-minute walk from my home.

This is not because I don't read.  I actually read a lot.  I buy books at stores and garage sales, I trade books with people, I receive them as gifts, I pick up books that people have left at the bottom of their lawns; I own many books that I've reread.  Hopefully that's enough to convince people I'm not some illiterate yutz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are even quite a few "Little Libraries" within a short distance of my house that I've made use of – you take a book, and you leave a book; that's the deal.  I even considered requesting one of these boxes on my own lawn, but the colour schemes are hideous.

  

Someone out there I know recently lamented that he would have loved to donate a quantity of used books to a library, but the library didn't want them.  Now I know why.

Remembering back to the library I went to as a child, the place seemed huge – room after room after room, endlessly, with an upstairs too.  But this library – it must be an optical illusion.  From outside, it looks the size of a $3 million home, but on the inside, it didn't feel much bigger than your average 2-bedroom apartment (with carpeting apparently left over from an old movie theatre).  I don't see how they could stuff more books in there – they're full.

But it's not just books.  There's a little room for magazines/newspapers, shelves of DVDs, and a very large table with about 8 computer workstations.  For the space that they have, they are trying to make optimal use of it.

The times have certainly changed.  A sign on the wall instructed people with cell phones to set them on vibrate, and to speak quietly.  I remember my junior high school librarian.  If that woman had caught you in her library talking on a cell phone, she would have removed both the phone and the ear listening to it.  (Mrs. Crowley, if you're still alive, I have a copy of "The Condition of the Working Class in England" that I signed out in 1978.   Deepest apologies – I'm almost finished it.)

Before leaving this precious local resource, I did check out a book.  It's done express now.  You just press Start on the monitor, hold your library card up to the scanner, put your book on the pad, and when the screen turns green, you're done.  You can even print out a receipt that tells you the minute they'll start charging you 40 cents a day for late fees.  I checked out "When to Rob a Bank".  I found the content disappointing, as I was hoping to retire soon (next week).

 

One Thing That >50 Me Has Learned Along the Way...

With the exception of inside your own home where you live alone - if you move an object, for whatever reason, you should put it back where you got it, when you're finished.  Or if the object has a new (and I would certainly hope, improved) permanent home, tell everyone who needs to know.  Please, please do this, because I cannot tell you how much time I have spent looking around for something that someone else shifted.  It is a HUGE waste of time and extremely irritating.