What's a library?

SpookyWriter · Oct 25, 2006

I'm borrowing a computer to check mail and respond to a few inquires. I am at the library. Do people actually go to the library anymore? I can say from my recent experiences, yes.

It is way cool to see people checking out books and reading. There are books, magazines and news papers here. Did you know that? Oh well, it is time to check out a book to read and get back to the hospital across the street.

See ya later!

Spooky

Cat Scratch · Oct 25, 2006

I LOVE the library. I dream that I'm there, sometimes. It's true.

Unique · Oct 25, 2006

Nuke 'em if ya gotta - but SAVE THE LIBRARY!

SpookyWriter · Oct 25, 2006

Libraries are so cool. I've been to them even when I lived outside the U.S. I would go to the library in Haarlem, the Netherlands and sit for hours while sipping coffee and reading a book. I rather do reseach in a physical library most often because there's something about the touch and feel of books that makes me remember what I like about writing.

I was surprised how many people were in the library today. I felt really good to know that ordinary people still appreciate libraries and what they have to offer.

SC Harrison · Oct 25, 2006

Thank God I'm not the only one. I'm a total book geek. Every city I visit I try to find their library, and I often check out their "local history" section, if they have one. You can find some pretty weird stuff there, like high school yearbooks from waaaay back, and some of them were donated, so they have the personal notes scribbled in the front and back. You can read the note, then flip the page to look at the smiling face of the person that wrote it.

And yes, I'm very easily entertained, much like a puppy.

SpookyWriter · Oct 25, 2006

I love rural libraries, and not so much the newer ones. I like the smell of musk and old books that had set for a hundred years. I agree that going around to new towns and looking at scrap books from a generation gone past is so cool. I've literally sat the whole day away on many occasion just reading a good book that someone hadn't probably touched in ten or twenty years.

CBeasy · Oct 25, 2006

I was just saying the other day how, despite the fact that the internet will soon result in the death of most physical media, books will continue to live on. I think this is because the fact that a monitor is no substitute for holding a book in your hand. I've ripped all my cds to my hard drive, but to this day, I've never read more than an article on the computer.

CBeasy · Oct 25, 2006

Throwing away old books!?!? Blasphemy! The old ones are the best ones!

A. Hamilton · Oct 25, 2006

I love libraries but have banned myself from them, I just can't seem to be trusted with a card. It's like renting movies, I never get them back on time. I have paid an embarrassing amount in late fees in the past. (for the library and the video store).
Besides, I'm a control freak and really enjoy ownership.

Southern_girl29 · Oct 25, 2006

I love libraries. I need to get a new card, because it's been years since I've used mine. I've decided when I finish my WIP, I'm going to go to the library one night a week and work on editing. My husband's going to have a night with our three year old, and I'm going to have a night to myself. I can't wait.

SpookyWriter · Oct 25, 2006

Jadezuki said:
Now, see, I like rural libraries less. My parents live in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee, and the libraries around there are one floor, one giant room. They try to stay up-to-date, and they only have so much room, so they get overstocked on the latest thriller or romance and toss out all the older, more interesting stuff. I like libraries that are big enough to let things sit and gather dust.

I guess all sizes are fine with me. Small and quaint or large and dusty in the corners. I think the people (along with the books and such) that make going interesting also. I like to sit and watch people sometimes. They do interesting things like stand on my leg with reading or lean against the rack and hold a book by the spine.

Unique · Oct 26, 2006

Confession

When I'm shelving books and I find an old one with a cool title, I check it out and read it. Because of space limitations our library weeds through old ones that haven't be checked out in a couple of years and puts them up for sale.

They're going to catch onto me one day. I hope it's far in the future.
(sshh...don't tell, okay?)

CBeasy · Oct 26, 2006

Ohhhhh the smell. I love the smell of a library! Old books, mmmmmmmm.

Tracy · Oct 26, 2006

I remember when we were living in this town for appx 2 years I came home and announced to my DH that we were going to have to move.

Somewhat startled, he asked why.

I told him, "Because I've read the library".

(Not literally every book, you understand. But most of them, and certainly all the ones I'd be interested in)

SpookyWriter · Oct 26, 2006

Now many libraries have internet access in case you're traveling and need to check mail. So it's now possible to chat with fellow AW'ers and do some book research at the same time. Way cool!

CBeasy · Oct 26, 2006

Indeed. A modern library is like my concept of heaven. Free Internet? Tons of books ranging from ancient chinese literature to modern trash bestsellers?! How could it get any better!?

SpookyWriter · Oct 26, 2006

In Holland you get all the above and free coffee.

I went to a library once in Istanbul and just took a peek around. Same general layout but everything was written in Turkish or Arabic. :tongue

Go figure.

CBeasy · Oct 26, 2006

Now I want to go to Holland even more!

SpookyWriter · Oct 26, 2006

CBeasy said:
Now I want to go to Holland even more!

They even have a few books in English...

...for the tourist.

sammyig · Oct 26, 2006

I practically live in the Library...of course I work there

Del · Oct 26, 2006

They're ok. Personally I like reading in old graveyards, headstones. No coffee or free internet though.

JoeEkaitis · Oct 26, 2006

A lot of the action in my book takes place at a library. Ironically, School LIBRARY Journal and American LIBRARY Association Booklist didn't review it.

Wotta world, eh?

C.bronco · Oct 26, 2006

In college we spoke about it whispers... it was the "L" place where people went to do the "S" thing. We went there, but didn't admit it.
Nowadays, I take my son to the library. Hey, they have free books!

Maryn · Oct 26, 2006

When we bought this house, location mattered a lot. I wanted our kids to be able to walk to the next two schools they'd be attending, and we had to be able to walk to the library.

Not that I do, but I have to know I could. The kids went to get their pleasure reading or do their research without the need for parental involvement, which is a good thing.

Even though this community is fairly prosperous, there's such a demand for internet time that they clock you. If anyone's waiting for a turn, the person who's been on the longest beyond the allowed 45 minutes has to go to the end of the line.

There's something about physically browsing the collection that's unbeatable. Plus I have the best library card number ever--9 digits, all 0s and 1s.

Maryn, Library Girl

DeniseK · Oct 26, 2006

I fell in love with my hometown library, even the actual building, when I was probably 6. Libraries rule!

What's a library?

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here for a minute...catch me?

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