“Be a little careful about your library. Do you foresee what you will do with it? Very little to be sure. But the real question is, What it will do with you? You will come here and get books that will open your eyes, and your ears, and your curiosity, and turn you inside out or outside in.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
A common theme amongst book bloggers in the year of our Lord, 2008, is the desire to tighten the purse strings in order to part with less of the sweat of our brow on literature. To a man (and woman) we are all guilty of the indulgence of having piles of unread books just waiting for us to discover the treasure hidden therein. And yet throughout 2008 we will all feel, and at times give in to, the temptation to walk into our local bookstore, “just to take a quick look”, and will walk out with not one, but many new books with which to shore up our ever-dwindling stacks.
One method to combat the ease with which one is parted from one’s money in the pursuit of a good story is to visit the local public library.
“Book lovers will understand me, and they will know too that part of the pleasure of a library lies in its very existence.â€Â
~Jan Morris
A personal goal here at Stainless Steel Droppings is to find myself at the library at least once every month of the year and to read one library book during each month of the year. In order to begin the year on the right course, I took myself to the closest public library branch this past Saturday in search of the first two volumes of Isaac Asimov’s seminal science fiction masterpiece, the Foundation Series. Thankfully, I succeeded in securing both volumes (and, I might add, have had a delightful time in reading my way through the first 3/4ths of Foundation):
“The closest you will ever come in this life to an orderly universe is a good library.”
~Ashleigh Brilliant
Although speaking for myself I make the assumption that I am not alone in this–when I walk into a public library, any public library, the sights and sounds and smells transport me to my earliest recollections of checking out books. Images unbidden flood my mind: rows of Beatrix Potter books in the Book Mobile that traveled to my country elementary school each week; the illustrations of Edward Gorey first found in books of ghost stories; picking up Dracula on a whim at the age of 12 and falling in love with the language all the while thrilling at the delicious chill going up my spine. I am remiss when it comes to visiting my local library on a regular basis, and each time I return I wonder why, because each visit is a chance for discovery.
Case in point: after procuring the Asimov volumes that I required, I decided to visit the DVD section with the sole intent of checking on the availability of various British productions. To my delight I found an episode of Agatha Christie’s Poirot, an old favorite, and an episode of a show that I had never seen, Campion:
There was no debating Poirot. Hercule Poirot, as portrayed by David Suchet, is one of my favorite sleuths and we have seen precious few of these episodes. As I had never seen Campion I was unsure of what I would find. Peter Davison is an old favorite from All Creatures Great and Small and this particular episode guest starred Lysette Anthony. I am sure I am not the only young man who developed a major crush on Princess Lyssa after viewing Krull in 1983. These treasures were enjoyed on consecutive evenings over the weekend resulting in plans to return them and procure more episodes this very day!
It may seem a bit prosaic to be singing the praises of a visit to the local library, but to me the experience is never a dull one and honestly is filled with adventure. A good many memorable literary events in my life can be traced back to experiences in my hometown library. It is in honor of those memories as well as a desire to be true to my 2008 goals that has prompted me to devote today’s post to public libraries the world over.
Before I leave today’s subject, I want to share one final observation. Techology has contributed several improvements to the library experience but it has also taken away one of the things I loved best about borrowing books from the lending library: the check-out card. Perhaps you are one of the fortunate ones who can still open a library book and find a slip of paper or a card inside with dates stamped on it indicating when that book has to be returned. Our local libraries do everything by computer now. While that contributes to a more clean and efficient process, I miss the date stamps. Library books and used books carry with them the added dimension of history–someone, or perhaps many someones, have picked up this book before, and perhaps even read and enjoyed it. Being able to see the card inside with multiple dates stamped on it gave me such a sense of wonder as well as a connection to all the people who have read that book before me. I recall feeling sorry for books whose previous check out date had been years in the past. I am certainly not anti-change, but there are definitely things I miss about my own ‘good ol’ days’.
In closing I find it fitting to include a quote from the man whose books recalled me to the library after a year long absence:
“When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself.”
~Isaac Asimov
Save some money and support your local library. Happy Monday, everyone!
I’m going to make an effort to visit the library more this year too. My original plan for the year was to only buy the books that I had previously signed up for for challenges that I didn’t own…but instead, I’ve decided that I’m going to check those books out at the library! However, there are those books by authors like Card and Gaiman that will just have to be bought when they’re released this year. I can fool myself all I want saying I won’t buy any books this year, but when those guys release books, I will.
I really do love the library for the same reasons you mentioned…the smells, the sounds, the childhood memories, the cards in the backs of the books that aren’t there anymore :(…I just hate having to give the books back! That’s why I so rarely go. I just love owning my books. But 2008 will definitely be a year of supporting my library more for me. Love those pics by the way…I want a cool looking library!
Happy Monday to you too!
I love the library! I’ve currently lost my library card, which is the only reason I haven’t visited for awhile. We still have date stamps, but they’re on small white label-style stickers than are then stuck on the book. 🙂
My childhood library had a huge mural from Where the Wild Things Are painted on all the walls in the children’s section, and I loved it. 😀 I already take my niece to this library, which has a seperate children’s room that she loves.
I wish there was a library closer to me so I could go myself! But the closest one is to far to walk to.
I remember the library in the very small town I lived in growing up.. the town was tiny and the library was tiny lol.. but you are right about one thing, it is an experience..almost like going into a book store, you can look forever and touch the beloved books while memories flood your mind! I think they make you feel like you went back in time!
We still do the date stamp thing although everything else is computerized. Maybe they thought we couldn’t handle that much change!
I am a daily visitor to the library.Yes,daily. LOL. The library is invaluable for homeschooling!
We only get movies from the library now,too..(which is why it’s a daily excursion…but it helps that the library is only just across the street!)
I have to pimp the Nashville Library system! we have a ton of branches all over town, a great online system to reserve books, see about due dates, check your fines, see what kind of community events are going on. This week they are doing a food exchange for fines where you bring in cans for the food bank and the library will reduce your fines. i usually end up going at least 2-3 times a month.
Melanie: I do love that part of the technology, the ability to go online and see which branch has what and to be able to place holds. That is great. I just miss the knowledge of the book’s other travels that were hinted at by the dates on the cards. That is really great about the canned goods. I certainly end up supporting my library financially, in small ways, because I almost always have fines. 🙂
Rebecca: Across the street? That is convenient! Our library system has generally done very well with keeping VHS movies and now DVDs in stock. I’ve discovered many interesting British shows because of visits to the library.
Chris@: That’s funny!
Deslily: Exactly my point! It is like going back in time. And no matter how shiny and new a library might be it carries with it that sense of history simply because it is part of the whole nation-wide…worldwide…system where, despite many updates and changes, the main thing hasn’t changed–the free borrowing of books! I’m sorry yours isn’t more convenient. Have you ever checked to see if they have any kind of delivery system? Some do around here. Not sure what one has to do to qualify for it.
Eva: I need to try to track down my library card as well. I generally use my wife’s, causing her the agony of having to chase me down and get books back when they are overdue. I’m glad you are passing on the joy of visiting the library to your niece.
Chris: Never fear, I certainly am not advocating the ceasing of purchasing books. I too love to own my books, especially those whose covers blow me away. I know of several books by several authors that will be coming home with me this year. I also want to be supportive of writers by buying their books. However, for these classic science fiction books (many of whose authors are dead), I am going to try the library and/or used bookstores rather than purchasing new ones. I’m not at all in love with the covers for these Asimov books, and getting them at the library rather than buying the paperbacks saved me around $15 after discounts. And considering I could not find decent copies of either of them in my recent used bookstore travels, the library was a necessity. I’m certainly advocating, in my own life, the idea of saving money for books that I really want.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve already used my gift cards and a bit of my Christmas money to buy 8 new books this year, and 5 or 6 used books! 🙂
We only have a little library where I live. I go in there pretty much everyday. They are great about getting new books. I am very grateful.
I love my library and have sung its praises before. I took a picture of my latest library acquisitions yesterday and will post it today (have one of your recommendations in the stack). I, too, hated losing the card catalog; I loved the cards and the little drawers, although I enjoy being able to check the online catalog from home.
JenClair: the card catalog was alot of fun. Sure it is easier with computers, but it was still fun to pull those cards out, especially as a kid, and then to go searching for the book. It was like searching for treasure.
Nik: There is nothing better than when a library stays up to date with stuff. That is why I wish funding wasn’t such an issue with them.
I grew up in small towns and in the country when I was small. My first memory of being taken to a library was when I was about 8 or so and my mother was taking care of my step-aunt’s house while they were on vacation. It was just my mother and me (my baby brother and step-father stayed home), and one afternoon she took me to the library.
My step-aunt lived in Carbondale, IL, which is a college town (SIU), and the library was HUGE… especially to a small child that had barely seen a large town, let alone a city! LOL! I was already a book addict at that age, having been taught by my mother to read at the age of 3, and to see ALL of those books, just waiting for me to read them… I was in awe.
We checked out several books each and went back to my Aunt’s to read them. We returned again in a few days. My mother and I shared a love of books that my step-father and brother never quite got, but it is something we still share. My mother (and I!) are never happier than when we have a book in our hands to read.
That is great, Astaryth, thanks for sharing. It is interesting how sometimes those who don’t read really don’t get the fascination of those who do.
Those are beautiful pictures – is that your library?
I wish Dan, I wish. If so I’d never leave. No, I was neglectful and forgot to post this link which is where I got the pictures.
Great post!
I have to say I’m not a big library-goer, but mostly ’cause I have to own books, and even borrowing them from friends is awkward as I find myself wanting to commit the cardinal sin of not returning them to their legitimate owners. But I know I should stop buying books that just lie there, and start doing the mature thing.
Mature schmature.
Also, I’d probably go/have gone more voluntarily if the libraries around my homes (had) looked more like your pictures and less like asthma-attack-inducing dust fortresses of gray concrete and hardly any windows.
I wonder if I could take a couple shots of the bookstore in Harvard Sq…it looks a lot like this library!
That would be great, Janet. I’d love to see those!!!
Anne, our local libraries…at least the ones I will frequent, are nothing architecturally stimulating, that is for sure. However we do have a few really nice libraries in the Kansas City area that are fun to visit for the way they look as much as for the books inside.
Another trip to the library today resulted in:
Another episode of Campion, a few more episodes of Poirot, and the 2 disc set of P.G. Wodehouse Playhouse. I look forward to them all.
What I love is the ability to try anything. I visit bookstores, online locations, basically anywhere with books listed and if a book sounds even a little interesting I go online to my library and reserve a copy. If I don’t like the book I’ve lost nothing when I return it unread, If I like it I’m happy, Reading a good book I would have never noticed otherwise, I consider a bonus.
I just finished the Foyle’s War DVD set …highly recommend it, am working my way through Midsomer Murders and bring home Poirot to fill the gap. I will look for the Campion series as it is unfamiliar to me.
Homeschooling has definitely made trips to the library a much more regular thing around here. Annie and I generally get there about once a week. I just love being in a library (though ours is most definitely not a stunning sight to behold like those in the photos). But I just love to go sit in a little cubby-hole somewhere and read or work on lesson plan stuff.
I love that you mentioned the Bookmobile, too. Rich and I were just talking a week or so ago about how we loved the Bookmobile as kids…and I think our kids were a bit jealous that they don’t get to visit one.
I’ve used my library card one time(s). One. And I’m a librarian. I just have this ownership thing that I can’t get over, but should. Perhaps this should be a goal of mine as well considering I spend 8 hours in a library 5 days a week.
Scott: I’m all about book ownership, and all of us buying books is what keeps the publishers and authors in business.
Debi: So glad someone else remembers bookmobiles. I loved it when they came. It was such a fun experience.
Elizabeth: I’ve heard good things about Foyle’s War. I saw some episodes of Mapp & Lucia there and I’m interested in that series but they only have the second season and I’m not sure that is where I should be starting.
I love those pictures!
I have to admit I have a fabulous library system! I read more books from the library than my own personal collection (which is why I have such big stacks of TBR piles). I go at least once a week and the library ladies are so nice and friendly (they know me by name now) and are always happy to see me and talk books.
Our library has a great collection of movies and DVDs too! Matter of fact, whenever I go looking for a somewhat older movie, the video store hardly ever has what I’m looking for but the library almost always does… and it’s free!
I’ve been a librarian for 30 years and work in a public library. It’s as much fun to work there as it is to visit. All of humanity passes through on a daily basis. Part of my job is selecting fiction. I sometimes think libraries, especially public libraries, are taken for granted and underappreciated so this post makes me very happy.
Years ago I checked out way more books than I bought and I’ve been thinking that I need to get back to that. As someone who also works in a public library (12 years) I love to see posts like this, too. I also miss the cards in the back. When we went to computers people kept losing the slips of paper we gave them with the list of books and due date. I am convinced that my books would be overdue all time if I didn’t have to be there 5 days a week because I can’t keep up with the slips either. The only thing about libraries and Sci/Fi or Fantasy books is that many books in those genres seems to be a part of a series and we never seem to have all the books. I would like to encourage people to use interlibrary loan when this happens. I think people forget about that service and it’s among the easier tasks I have no it’s really no problem at all.
I LOVE the library!! Last year was a big one for “tightening the purse strings”. And because of it, I spent a lot of time at our library. It’s actually only a few blocks away, and they know me by name. Mostly because I ILL all the time.
We didn’t have a local library in the town I grew up in. So I really missed out. Just the one in our school, and it was pretty dismal. I read my way through most of it by the 6th grade. But when I moved out on my own, the first thing I did was get a library card. My biggest problem is I check out WAY too many books at once. I never have time to read them all!!
There are several books that cover the history of the library. I can say that the most enjoyable was Library A History. I cant find it on Amazon and need to look in my storage for the author ( I thought it was Mark but I am mistaken). Promise to send it your way – a worthy read.
Okay first off let me say nice post, BUT I know this entire post is all a ruse to score some points with your lovely wife. You must have done something really naughty. 🙂
In all seriousness I visit the library quite often with my kids and, Scott, I do take advantage of the ILL system often to requests books for my wife and audiobooks for myself. I will also add my love of the old card system as well. I always thought of the same things when I saw those stamp dates as well Carl. I felt lonely for the books with few stamps and excited over the one’s with many thinking of how many people I was shareing this story with. I really miss those cards and the giant card catalogs. Someone mentioned those slips they give you now and I never keep track of them as well but, what my library offers also is an email notification system that let’s me know when books are due back two days before hand. That has saved me many a late fee plus I can complete renewels online without having to go back to the library. I love that feature as well.
Great library photos, too. I want one of those in my dream house one day.
Growing up, my mom used to bring us (my brother and I — until later when it’s just me) on these regular Saturday visits to the library. She would go up to the Adult Fiction area and I would be allowed to run wild in the Children/Young Adult section. That was when I first started reading the picture books on Greek mythologies, and later moving onto folklores and myths of other cultures.
I remember how I used to be such a big fan of the Asterisk and Tintin comics and I would keep checking the library to see if they have the ones I have not read. I read all the Encyclopedia Brown stories the library had in its collection. I have good memories of the libraries in my life.
I still visit the library almost weekly. Which explains why I’m often reading so many books all at once. 🙂
Ladytink: I’m so happy that you have a great library system. I love the fact that movies one cannot find elsewhere can sometimes be found at the library. We watched the first disc of Wodehouse Playhouse last night and were cracking up. If you like the stories of P.G. Wodehouse it is definitely worth seeing. I liked it so much I went ahead and ordered all the ones the library doesn’t have on Netflix.
Deborah: Happy to oblige, eventhough I don’t visit the library as often as I should I am a big fan of the public library.
Sam: Interlibrary loan is great. I’ve gotten some really interesting books because of my wife taking advantage of that. And you’re right about the slips of paper, it does seem odd that that is the only way now for a person to recall when their books are due. Or, I suppose, one can look it up online.
Stephanie: We had a small library in our school when I was in the sixth grade, one that our teachers started up by asking for book donations. It was really fun to have. We had an old clawfoot tub in their that was carpeted inside that you could lay in and read. I loved getting my work done and being able to spend time in the library. As a kid I used to check out way too many books as well. I usually am a little better now.
Nessa: Thanks, I’ll appreciate the info.
Jeff: If my posts had anything to do with being naughty I would have to do library posts every day! 🙂 You and my wife certainly take advantage of the audio book offerings at the local libraries, no doubt about it. I’m sure I would too if that much driving was involved in my job. That email feature is cool. It has been so long since I’ve used my own library card (I had to spend a whopping 50 cents to get a new one yesterday) that I don’t know that Mid Continent doesn’t have the same email system.
Dark O: I remember doing the same thing as a child, wandering through the kids sections of the libraries. My love of Peanuts was fostered through the library as I checked out several collections. Peanuts and the works of Daniel Pinkwater are some of my strongest memories from the library.
I can’t wait to start taking my neice to the library, like my father used to take me! So many great memories!
It is great to be able to pass that stuff on to kids, isn’t it Angela? I’m looking forward to trying to hook my newest niece on to the reading experience. I bought her books even before she was born, just trying to pave the way!
*claps* beautiful post! Despite my recent troubles I absolutely love the libraries here. They are one of the things I’ll miss the most when I get back. The town where I’m from only has one public library, and it’s frankly poor. Unfortunately there are still a lot of people who subscribe to the mentality that some books are superior to others, so finding things like comics, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc, can be troublesome.
So for the next two months, I’m going to take full advantage of the library 😀 Libraries are magical places…I just love walking into them and knowing that I can reach for any of the books on the shelves (or any two, or three), take them home with me, and let them take me to another world.
As an actual library sciences student, I am obviously an ardent supporter of libraries and all they stand for. So much so that to say much more than that would probably get me grumped at for being a “library cultist” up here. 😉
Also, I love both the Poirot and Campion tv shows. (“The Gyrth Chalice Mystery” is probably my favorite.) May I recommend Brother Cadfael as well? The books on which they are based are among my very favorite mysteries, and Derek Jacobi is a fine actor.
Recommend away, RB. I have yet to be disappointed by these various British television series. And feel free to be a library cultist all you want! 😉
For those of you who haven’t done so, pop on over to Nymeth’s site and read her travails with a less than cooperative librarian.
I love the public library and am lucky to have a wonderful one near my house. I try to visit once a week although I’m trying to read more from my unread stacks! You know what I miss the most – the card catalogs. Those were great. I wish I could get a hold of one.
Yes your post pretty much sums up what is great about libraries. At the moment I live in a city with an extremely beautiful state of the art library. I’m way too cheap not to make use of it!
I love those check out cards! I loved to see how often a book was checked out and imagine all the hands that held it before me. My library is all computerized now too but from time to time I find a check out card with date stamps in a really old book and I get to have my moment of imagination.
Unfortunately most of the public libraries around me for the majority of my life have been horrible. That is to say, very small, very low on offerings, and staffing uninterested individuals that couldn’t give less of a flip about books. Sad. Very sad.
However, since I’ve been teaching at my current community college of employment, I have fallen in love with their library. The fiction section is small, but it’s expertly stocked with classics and literary fiction. And the YA section is fantabulous, too. My library usage has increased ten-fold, and I always look forward to browsing.
Wonderful post!
oh the check-out card… there’s something magical about it, isn’t there…!
i have a lot of fondness for libraries because of my childhood years that i spent there. those shelves held such magic for me. there was so much to discover. i even remember a period when i was 17 when i couldn’t be doing with going to school (i don’t know… something must’ve been going on in my life) and i used to go to the library. i felt a little like bastian! 🙂
Andi: I can certainly see the advantage of my wife working at a university library as I’ve had access to some books through their interlibrary loan system that I would have never gotten elsewhere.
JP: I can see the library being a bastian. It certainly was magical to my youth as well and retains that magic everytime I walk into one. I know I’m seeing it through different, less innocent and awe-filled eyes, but the magic is still tangible, even if it is more from a feeling of nostalgia.
And my return to the library after so long of an absence has been fantastic: the Asimov books I checked out are great and I’m loving all the DVD’s and videos we’ve been watching this week.
Foyle’s War needs to be seen in order if possible as each episode coincides with an event during the war. Midsomer Murder not so much but one character does have an actor change partway through. Love Cadfael as well. So far I’ve found 3 PD James dvds ( find her hard to read ) at the library and totally enjoyed those.
haha! i actually meant bastian from “the neverending story”… 🙂 but what a happy confusion, because i was actually implying that the library was a bastion. well, not quite a bastion, but a haven. but pretty much a bastion too…
i’m so glad your return has been good! and aren’t those childhood stirrings great. ’cause, as you say, even if one doesn’t feel exactly as one did all those years ago, theres still something of that magic there…
That is hilarious that I completely read that wrong, JP. It is an interesting play on words though come to think of it.
As a librarian myself, it’s nice to see people using their libraries — it’s the only way to keep any funding coming in. I also have wonderful childhood memories of libraries and I loved the old card catalogue. But I think I was cured of the card catalogue nostalgia by one summer working at ‘weeding’ a collection of a very old library; as I pulled each book I had to go and pull all the multiple cards associated with it out of the catalogue. After a few ‘collected works’ I was pretty sick of cards! 🙂
I certainly wouldn’t be nostalgic about the working end of the card catalog, just the checking out and reading end. 🙂
It’s a wonder some of the notorious librarians from our youth (“Shhh!!! Don’t touch that! You can’t go to the Adult Section. That will be $5.99 in overdue fines, please.”) didn’t completely subvert us from every attending a library again. Now, these dear women seem a bit friendlier. Who knows, maybe they got married.
From stories I am hearing it sounds like there is a fair mix of the old guard and new, more friendly and book-loving librarians out there. Some stereotypes live on because there are always a handful of people that fit those stereotypes so well. 🙂
Great post, honey! Sorry it took me so long to comment.
I love working in an academic library, but I really do most of my borrowing from the public library. Our local public library is part of a very large multi-branch system, and I have had great luck finding monographs, DVDs, books on tape/CD, etc. Public libraries are our tax dollars at work! Take advantage of them!
Hey Carl – What a great post! In the last 3 years I have become addicted to the library. Bookstores will always be my first love, but I just can’t justify the bucks spent on book anymore – though I would if I could. I miss the stamps too, but I love the Interlibrary loan thingy which basically means you can go online, and request any freakin book you want and get it eventually. Most times, the books come rather quickly but its no matter because I am always backed up with things to read regardless. Again – great post, and I loved your book Christmas Tree photo.
Thank you Sheri. I’m afraid that this quote:
“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.â€
Desiderius Erasmus
is one that I do, and always will, take to heart. Books are one of the most easily justifiable extravagances for me. I’m an addict. 🙂
However I too love the library, especially for its sense of history in my own life. I have been using it this month and loving it and will continue to make use of it to at least curb some of my book buying this year.