I love libraries

[ploverwing]

Another post got me thinking about all the great and wonderful things about libraries. Do you have any favourite library moments to share? Do you have a good library, a great library, or just a meh library? Are you a library person at all or do you just buy stuff right away if you want to read it?

 

[ploverwing]

A very sweet recent library moment: my daughter is turning 13 in a month, and her child library card was set to expire at that point. We went in when I knew one of the librarians, that we've known since we started going to this branch 11 years ago, would be on shift. She was delighted to help issue Katia her adult library card, and felt honoured to have been able to do so. It was a very special right of passage moment. We've been to the library for Mother Goose programs, Stuffy Sleepover events, participated in "Where's Library Mouse" hunts and Summer Reading Club programs, attended special events, used the branch space for hosting a crochet club and a Girl Guides learn to crochet workshop, not to mention all the books we've borrowed and returned. My daughter had over 1000 books checked out on her original library card!

 

[mikelz777]

I kind of miss the library. When my daughters were young we would go every week because they were both big readers. As they got older we would go less frequently and pretty much not at all once they left the house. My reading was so spotty I preferred to buy used books on the cheap and then read them whenever I got around to them. That turned into a pile of about 60+ books and now I'm trying to read more to rid myself of that pile. I think I'd like to go back to the library approach but then I'd have to be more disciplined with my reading.

 

[Charles Guy]

Libraries are absolutely wonderful. So many great memories of every one visited in every state and city we lived in and a few we were just visiting. Still have my original library card from 1966 in my drawer of treasures.

 

[Renaissance-Man]

My mom would take me to the library almost daily. I loved it (still do).
When I was in 2nd grade, my teacher sent me home with a note saying my teacher would like to speak with her. I thought I was in hot water. It turns out I tested at the highest reading level of the standardized reading test.

 

[rainbow21]

California (by law) gives access to ALL its public libraries to residents. You just need to show an ID (like a driver license). Some can be done online and some must be in person. With digital access (Libby app), it is really convenient. So my wife now has cards from San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, as well as the nearby Bay Area libraries. I recently switched to using Kindle due to vision issues and am now signing up as we travel around the state.

Our local library checks out ukuleles. This is in conjunction with the monthly ukulele club meetups there. They also host a free weekly Tai Chi class that I participate in. They provide seeds for flowers and vegetables and plant cuttings. They are worth every tax dollar used to support them.

Added: This was my childhood library. The best part is that the bannisters/railing you see are about one foot wide so every kid slid down them at every visit.

 

[ailevin]

I am crazy about libraries and always have been. I guess I am an academic at heart--I tell my grandchildren that I stayed in school for so long that they made me the teacher. This topic has my head spinning in so many directions, that I don't know where to start.

First, I want to recommend The Library Book by Susan Orleans. While it is mostly focused on events at the Los Angeles public library, it does a nice job on the history of libraries in the US including how they are evolving today. It is also a kind of detective story about the fire that destroyed much of the main branch collection in 1986.

When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time at the downtown main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. They had an excellent collection of sheet music, and I was able to check out all sorts of chamber music ranging from violin-piano and trio sonatas all the way up to the Bach Brandenburg Concertos. These were not just scores, but all of the individual instrumental parts! This was the early 1960s, and in those days we did not have access to recordings of every imaginable work, so we discovered a lot by combing the music stacks, bringing home the sheet music, and playing it. That library also extended my exposure to music from Gregorian chants to John Cage. Just looking at the evolution of notation was an education in itself.

 

[Junie Moon]

I love libraries so much I became a librarian; though in truth I stumbled into it. 📚

It is/was a great profession for people who are interested in lots of different things. Depending upon what type of library work you do you can learn about all kinds of things you didn't even know existed.

An archives professor told us she once had a student who had been a lion tamer. The student found a job as an archivist for Barnum and Bailey in some kind of Circus World magazine. 😄

Wherever I travel I visit libraries. I was in Chicago years ago, during a blistering hot summer. What an oasis of cool and joy the library was!
Lots of libraries are being rebuilt in super modern ways, but there are still lots of great old library buildings out there. The small public library buildings all over the country (Carnegie libraries) are awesome.

 

[Neil_O]

I am crazy about libraries and always have been. I guess I am an academic at heart--I tell my grandchildren that I stayed in school for so long that they made me the teacher. This topic has my head spinning in so many directions, that I don't know where to start.

First, I want to recommend The Library Book by Susan Orleans. While it is mostly focused on events at the Los Angeles public library, it does a nice job on the history of libraries in the US including how they are evolving today. It is also a kind of detective story about the fire that destroyed much of the main branch collection in 1986.

When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time at the downtown main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. They had an excellent collection of sheet music, and I was able to check out all sorts of chamber music ranging from violin-piano and trio sonatas all the way up to the Bach Brandenburg Concertos. These were not just scores, but all of the individual instrumental parts! This was the early 1960s, and in those days we did not have access to recordings of every imaginable work, so we discovered a lot by combing the music stacks, bringing home the sheet music, and playing it. That library also extended my exposure to music from Gregorian chants to John Cage. Just looking at the evolution of notation was an education in itself.

I grew up going to the Main library too. It was like a church to me.

 

[Neil_O]

When I was 8, I would walk a mile to the library and spend much of Saturday there. It was this cool building that was shaped like 1/4 of a donut. I could only check out three books at a time so I figured out how to obtain extra library cards to circumvent the rule.

Lincoln Heights Library, Los Angeles

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I am crazy about libraries and always have been. I guess I am an academic at heart--I tell my grandchildren that I stayed in school for so long that they made me the teacher. This topic has my head spinning in so many directions, that I don't know where to start.

First, I want to recommend The Library Book by Susan Orleans. While it is mostly focused on events at the Los Angeles public library, it does a nice job on the history of libraries in the US including how they are evolving today. It is also a kind of detective story about the fire that destroyed much of the main branch collection in 1986.

When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time at the downtown main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. They had an excellent collection of sheet music, and I was able to check out all sorts of chamber music ranging from violin-piano and trio sonatas all the way up to the Bach Brandenburg Concertos. These were not just scores, but all of the individual instrumental parts! This was the early 1960s, and in those days we did not have access to recordings of every imaginable work, so we discovered a lot by combing the music stacks, bringing home the sheet music, and playing it. That library also extended my exposure to music from Gregorian chants to John Cage. Just looking at the evolution of notation was an education in itself.

I agree about The Library Book. An excellent read even if, unlike us, you aren’t a bibliophile. Susan Orleans did a superb job in putting tons of research into a true page-turner form.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Libraries rock!

Mom took me to get my first library card at least 2 years before I enrolled in Kindergarten. I still recall the thrill of seeing all those books so pleasantly arranged, the reading tables and that huge unabridged dictionary in its place of honor atop a pedestal.

For many years, our then- rural regional library ran a Bookmobile which stopped once each week at the mom & pop grocery store next door.

I never knew whether it was a regular stop or whether mom somehow pulled strings but I was always the only customer at that stop.

Mom later introduced me to Scholastic Book Club Weekly Reader, and I never failed to order new books. There I became a fan of Encyclopedia Brown, and gained a permanent love of reading.

It breaks my heart that so many children suffer the lack not only of food, shelter and basic necessities but of books they can call their own.

 

[Junie Moon]

Hope I won't offend when I share a John Waters' quote, which I will paraphrase: "If you go home with someone you met in a bar, and they don't have any books in their home, don't have sex with them."

 

[Nickie]

I too love libraries. I was just in a small town library out west that has been remodeled. It was beautiful. I've been in almost every library in this county, and have taught beginner workshops in 6 of them.

 

[Mike $]

I love libraries so much that I did community service at one. Beats picking up trash on the side of the road, and no orange vest. I loved sitting around all day in the nice air conditioning too.

 

[TerryM]

.... during a blistering hot summer. What an oasis of cool and joy the library was!

The town I grew up in was too small for a public library, so the bank hosted one in the lobby. They also had the best air conditioning in town. I spent many Saturday mornings sitting on the floor selecting a book while luxuriating in the cool.

 

[Charles Guy]

Reading these responses made me stop and think just how important libraries are today. They provide not only access to the joy of the written word and sustenance to the mind they also provide a safe and sheltering environment to those who have no similar place of their own. Somewhere they can explore the world without fear which brings a few hours of peace to those in need.

 

[bbkobabe]

I used to just wander through the library during down time at college... First at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and then at Sonoma State. I loved to randomly encounter whole sections of books I never knew existed! I learned about so many things I never even realized I was interested in!

Anyhow... Sonoma State got a huge grant from The Charles Schulz Foundation and built a whole new library. However, all the books were put into isolation with an automated retrieval system to handle them. Now, you sit at a computer terminal, request a book, and a few minutes later it's waiting for you at a counter. No wandering the stacks anymore beyond a small browsing collection.

And they call it "progress"...

 

[bbkobabe]

A very sweet recent library moment: my daughter is turning 13 in a month, and her child library card was set to expire at that point. We went in when I knew one of the librarians, that we've known since we started going to this branch 11 years ago, would be on shift. She was delighted to help issue Katia her adult library card, and felt honoured to have been able to do so. It was a very special right of passage moment. We've been to the library for Mother Goose programs, Stuffy Sleepover events, participated in "Where's Library Mouse" hunts and Summer Reading Club programs, attended special events, used the branch space for hosting a crochet club and a Girl Guides learn to crochet workshop, not to mention all the books we've borrowed and returned. My daughter had over 1000 books checked out on her original library card!

Your kid sounds like my kid... almost the same story. Except Maia didn't learn until fifth grade so e wasn't able to rack up such a large list during childhood. Later, E wrote a 'zine called The List. It is a chronicle of eir struggle to become a reader and then the habit of writing down all the titles. E later worked in libraries, including one aboard a ship. Maia writes books now and made more money last year than me and my wife combined. Amazing!

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I used to just wander through the library during down time at college... First at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and then at Sonoma State. I loved to randomly encounter whole sections of books I never knew existed! I learned about so many things I never even realized I was interested in!

Anyhow... Sonoma State got a huge grant from The Charles Schulz Foundation and built a whole new library. However, all the books were put into isolation with an automated retrieval system to handle them. Now, you sit at a computer terminal, request a book, and a few minutes later it's waiting for you at a counter. No wandering the stacks anymore beyond a small browsing collection.

And they call it "progress"...

Georgia Tech (the MIT of the South) did the same with its main library during my son’s senior year. Sad.