10 cents is all!? Lucky! At my library, the cost is 25 cents per book per day. As you can imagine this is not pretty when you have a lot of books checked out, even when they are only one day late. It racks up really, really quickly. I think it’s even more for new books and other media.
I’m going tomorrow for books and maybe a video or DVD. I have another card for another library which carries some books and offers services that the other doesn’t.
I also use my two college libraries for other books and for videos for my students.
I’m another weekly library visitor. The price of books have gone up so much, that it would be financially impossible for me to support my reading habits. And our local library is absolutely fantastic! It’s been rated the #1 library in the USfor the fourth year in a row by the American Library Association, so I’m pretty spoiled. They have a great selection of new material, and they’re extrememly responsive to patron requests.
(I e-mailed them to request that they purchase the Mr. Show: 1st Season** DVD, and within two weeks I received a letter that the disc had been ordered & would be on hold for me!)
Everytime I stumble on an interesting title when I’m online (at home), I go to my library’s website to see if they have it. If they do, their website has an option where you can add it to your personal “booklist”. Then when I’m at the library, I can consult my booklist on their computer to get the location for all the books I’ve picked out.
I have a regular library routine for my visits: First I go to the Periodical section to grab the recent issues of my favorite magazines…then I slowly go through the Non-fiction new releases…then I download my “booklist” & grab all the books that had interested me recently…then, sometimes I check out a DVD.
I honestly don’t know what I’d do without my library!
I don’t go to the library, nor do I have a card. Like Opalcat, I want to keep my books, I’d like to end up an old man sitting in a comfy chair in front of the fireplace surrounded by floor to ceiling bookshelves.
Also, I have been to the Darwin library and it is horrendous. The selection of books is dismal. It is of a similar size to the library in Wanaka, NZ, which has a population of 4000. Darwin has a population of 100,000 and as such should be able to support a far better library. When I think library, I imagine going up the stairs to the 4th floor which contains the History, Geography, and Music sections. Not going to the far corner of the only floor, which contains the “reference section”.
Ahem, maybe the real reason I don’t go to the library is because there is no descent library here.
I use the library a lot. 'Course, I also sort of work for it. I’m mostly a SAHM, but I’m also a librarian. I do field trips for 3rd graders at the library and have just been on the committee to re-vamp the children’s room. So I’m there on average more than once a week, probably, often on business. And I don’t have to pay overdue fines, which is really happy, because I always have books overdue.
There is no way I could afford to buy every book I read, and I do a lot of skimming/taste testing/picking up at random, so I only buy what I really want to own. (I still have overflowing bookshelves.) I usually check out a few more books than I can really carry well–that’s how I know it’s time to stop. Mostly non-fiction these days, plus paperback mysteries to read at the gym while working out, and picture books for the Kidlet. I just go through the new book section and grab anything that looks interesting. It doesn’t all get read, and I stop partway through fairly often. I also tend to go on kicks; I’m currently interested in researching the homeschooling movement, so I have about 12 books from the library on that and holds on a few more.
Sadly, our library is not all that wonderful, though it has improved vastly in the last 10 years. I can generally get what I want, even if I have to ILL it, but they don’t have music or videos except what’s been donated.
[sappy brag about child] I had a proud moment the other day; the Kidlet, age 2, was sitting on a chair at the library looking through my pile of chosen volumes while I looked at a shelf. I told her it was time to go to the gym, let’s leave now, and she looked at me imperiously and said, “Don’t want to go to the gym. Want to read. READ, Mommy.” (while pointing at the book I held) She then went back to looking at a book on everyday life in the Regency period. [/sappy brag about child]
Unfortunately, I go to the bookstore more often than I go to the library. The 'net has superceded it for research purposes.
Still, since I live in Alexandria VA, I can say that I am a proud holder of a card from the fabled Library of Alexandria!
:mad: :mad: :mad:
I’ll never use my public library again, the stupid bastards! Say I owe them Time. What the hell does that mean? Oh, I checked out something called Time? I don’t remember. I owe twenty-four dollars? How the hell can I have a fine today if I didn’t have a fine the last time I was here? To hell with that! Well, look it up then, you stupid idiot! Oh, there was a science fiction book called Time . . . or it was a Time magazine . . . or it was a Time-Life book . . . but you can’t tell me which? So, you allege I checked something out, but I can’t remember what, and you don’t know what it is, and you can’t tell me exactly when I had it or for how long, and the last time I was here I had no fine but today I do, and that fine is twenty-four dollars? Well, to hell with that! I’ll never pay that fine! Never! I can’t believe I actually helped you morons fight to get all that extra government money! Jesus Christ! And what do you do with your extra funds? You get a bunch of computers and hook them up to the Internet and charge the public to use them! Well, you all can suck my . . .
Huh? Oh, sorry. :o
No, I don’t use the public library anymore.
They actually tried to sue me, too.
On behalf of library employees everywhere, we thank you for no longer using the library.
They should at least be able to tell the guy what “Time” is.
My branch of the Los Angeles Public Library is heinous. I hate going there–it’s loud and, according to a friend’s mother who used to work there, “all the librarians are nuts.” But I make extensive use of interlibrary loan and pick things up at that library all the time. Because of this, the librarians know my name and what I’m into, and occasionally they recommend things to me.
Really, it’s a great system. And if I really like a book that I borrow from the library, I buy it.
I was at my local library earlier today, actually. Depending on mood and weather, I may visit it daily. The main branch is only7-8 blocks from my apartment. If it’s warm enough, and I have nothing to do, I’ll go up there and scan all of their newspapers. It helps finding material to use (I’m a comedian). I may play around on their computers to check my email, etc. My current PC is a POS, and theirs move quickly. I save stories to disk, then go home for the word processing. I love the library.