How many of us on the board...

[WiccanLiberal]

I have an idea that the people here may be a little different than the average. We seem to pay attention to things other than our day to day existence. So, how any of us use our local public library? Books are something I value highly. My local library is actually quite good and has a variety of useful services. They have computers with low cost printing. They offer tax workshops and other educational opportunities. They have a special section on local history and interest. Books and periodicals are available as hard copy and as e books. They are also a center of information on local events and services outside of their own. So how many here have and use a library card? When was the last time you accessed your library? I was physically there yesterday but access e books at least twice a week.

[aboutime]

W.L. Sad to say, and admit, but I haven't been to a library (actual location) since my retirement in 1995. I had to check-out of my last ship's library to ensure I didn't leave the ship with any borrowed books.

And, I must also admit. Since the Internet has become such an easy place to get ALMOST ANY ANSWERS. I use the Internet as my 24/7 library where access is Unlimited, and all of the reading is at the touch of a keyboard.

Locally. Our nearest library is approx ten miles away, and next to a large High School complex where students, and non-internet/computer owners occupy all of the available P.C.'s.
It is sad fewer people use libraries today, which sort of gives me the reason I suspect SO MANY people are nearly Illiterate when it comes to reading, and comprehension about things other than WHO THE LAST WINNER OF AMERICAN IDOL was.

[Noir]

I haven't been to my local for a good 7 or so years, after they relocated to a newly built library that looks great, but Rather lacking in books. I don't know why they chose to go for such a minimalist design but most of the rooms are just large and empty, with bookshelves only along 3 walls =/

However whenever I go traveling about the UK, and inevitably end up stuck or waiting for trains/buses etc, the local libraries are always warm, dry, and safe areas to spend a few hours (:

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

I built my own large library and use it everyday, other than that I use GOOGLE and other comp. search engines, etc..
I have not been to use a public library in over 20 years now..
Yet I know so many of them are wonderful locations for reading, research and study. -Tyr

[NightTrain]

It's been many years since I was in a library. The interwebs have replaced it in my world.

[LongTermGuy]

It's been many years since I was in a library. The interwebs have replaced it in my world.


`Same in my world friend....`

[Kathianne]

I've used the public library since I was a toddler. My mom took us there twice a week, we had our own library cards at 4. We always had lots of our own books at home, but it was special to get to the library and pick out any books we wanted.

It certainly was a draw that there was also the biggest park in town at the same location as the library. There was also a botanical garden (http://www.epd.org/facilities/wilder-park-conservatory) and The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art (http://www.lizzadromuseum.org/). We often brought picnic lunches and mom would wear us out, then when we got home, we'd go to our rooms and 'read,' nearly always slept until my dad got home. My mom was smart, I did the same with my kids when they appeared. ;)

We knew the librarians and they knew us-most of my friends had the same relationships with them, I found that out by the time I was 7 and we were riding our bikes to Wilder Park to have our picnics in the park and go to the library. We always were in the 'Battle of the Books' during the school year, I once won the whole set of Laura Ingalls Wilder books.

As an adult I've used the library to check out videos for my kids, myself, and most often for classes. When we were selling our home, we checked out art work to replace personal stuff.

The library has nexus-lexus and subscribes to most major educational institutions in IL, thus paying the fees for sites one would not want to pay on their own.

I do find the Sedona Library pretty disappointing, but that's a function of small population and little tax base. I am going to find out though if they have some reading groups or circles.

[revelarts]

I just paid an over due fine last week. Tried to get an impromptu "Easter Forgiveness" break but those Librarians don't haggle.
i have 3 books out now. And Daughter has 1... or 2. I borrow dvd's, audio books and comics now too. Libraries are great. Probably my favorite municipal service after trash collection. I've got cards to my town and a few close by cities.

for you guys that don't have lot of books at your local library, if you know the book(s) you'd like to borrow ask your librarian about "inter-library loans" you can get just about ANYTHING you want that way. libraries across the country share books with other libraries so the patrons can use them. It's mail but it works.

[jimnyc]

My wife and son are forever at the local libraries. She's got her fruity little carrying bag with a little pocket for their cards. She reads like 80 books per day. The only time I ever go to the library is to return books and pay late fees. I have limited patience and reading long books is difficult for me. I often lose train of thought and veer off course. Anyone watch the Dodgers win yesterday? Yasiel Puig hit his first homer!!

[jimnyc]

I just paid an over due fine last week. Tried to get an impromptu "Easter Forgiveness" break but those Librarians don't haggle.
i have 3 books out now. And Daughter has 1... or 2. I borrow dvd's, audio books and comics now too. Libraries are great. Probably my favorite municipal service after trash collection. I've got cards to my town and a few close by cities.

for you guys that don't have lot of books at your local library, if you know the book(s) you'd like to borrow ask your librarian about "inter-library loans" you can get just about ANYTHING you want that way. libraries across the country share books with other libraries so the patrons can use them. It's mail but it works.

Keep the little one reading! I think that's one of the most valuable things we can share with the kids, voracious reading and learning. I know Jeff's kid wins yearly awards for the amount of words read and gets to go on trips!

[revelarts]

Keep the little one reading! I think that's one of the most valuable things we can share with the kids, voracious reading and learning. I know Jeff's kid wins yearly awards for the amount of words read and gets to go on trips!

She's finally begining to get a bug for books. She loved to watch TV and we've had to press her to read in elementary school, (though she love it when I read things to her). But it seems the turning point came for her when i got her a couple of books based on a couple of movies she like and she found the books to be BETTER. She's seen 3 cartoon versions of Romeo and Juliet ("Gnomeo and Juliet" a Japanese anime version and another) AND recently... since it's "romance" and she's a girl, she got it in her head that she needed to read the original version, old english and all. And she did. I was shocked and pleased. And she liked parts better than the the cartoons, even though she now believes there was "something wrong with Shakespeare" for writing a story where so many die over a teen romance and is shocked that "Romeo and Juliet just knew each other a few DAYS!"

[jimnyc]

She's finally begining to get a bug for books. She loved to watch TV and we've had to press her to read in elementary school, (though she love it when I read things to her). But it seems the turning point came for her when i got her a couple of books based on a couple of movies she like and she found the books to be BETTER. She's seen 3 cartoon versions of Romeo and Juliet ("Gnomeo and Juliet" a Japanese anime version and another) AND recently... since it's "romance" and she's a girl, she got it in her head that she needed to read the original version, old english and all. And she did. I was shocked and pleased. And she liked parts better than the the cartoons, even though she now believes there was "something wrong with Shakespeare" for writing a story where so many die over a teen romance and is shocked that "Romeo and Juliet just knew each other a few DAYS!"

That's the best way though, with a parent. My son started reading in school of course, but almost daily it was "reading time" with Mom. The kid has already read 20x the amount of books I have read, and he's only 14. Hell, he had me beat by the time he was 7!! :)

See, I'm the opposite, I will skip a book if I can get a video version (TV). Even back in HS and junior high, I would seek out cliff notes instead of reading! I would still ace my tests somehow, but was never fond of reading. At least until Al Gore invented the internet!!

[darin]

Libraries seem obsolete to me.

[Abbey Marie]

I have been a library rat since I was a child. Still go there and check out books. Ours also has comfy chairs and a fireplace.

We even taught our daughter to read before school by checking out phonics books from the library.

No eBooks yet. I like holding the book in my hand.

I do miss the old book checkout machines that photographed your library card and the book info.

[WiccanLiberal]

While I love the feel of a real book, e books are more practical for me lately as my place has such limited space. Besides, I read quickly and it becomes impractical to haul multiple volumes back and forth to work for reading at lunch or on the train unless they are on my nook.

[avatar4321]

I live above a library. I go there frequently. I actually have two books on preaching that I've been reading. I figured preaching is sort of what I do.

[Jeff]

Keep the little one reading! I think that's one of the most valuable things we can share with the kids, voracious reading and learning. I know Jeff's kid wins yearly awards for the amount of words read and gets to go on trips!

The Library's are great down here, I barley remember the little red library we had in town when I was a kid but I do remember just like down here they use to do things to get kids in the doors. My boys have been going to the library during the summer ( while school is open they use the library at school ) and that keeps them doing something constructive instead of getting in trouble and because they have been doing this since they where young they both enjoy reading, well kind of.

Both Boys are in the 7th grade and both took the yearly test to see at what level they are reading. Well my older boy loves to read and he wins every year the contest they have at school and gets to go on special trips and such, the younger one only reads when he has to or what he enjoys ( sport magazines mostly, although I am sure if he can get his hands on a playboy he would enjoy that as well :laugh: ) but this year when the results to the test come out the older boy who loves to read comes home and proudly shows us how according to the test he is reading at a 9th grade level, the younger one who can take it or leave it ( reading that is ) just smirked and then said Yup I am the smart one, seems his test results show him reading on a 10th grade level. Yes in my house we have a non stop contest on everything, right now it is baseball and school , they also wrestle, so during that season I get to watch them beat the heck out of each other ( yes they start out wrestling and that quickly turns into a fist fight) and of course they fight all through the school year over grades. It sounds bad as I read it but it really isn't, although they fight they also push each other to better themselves, and yes I am proud of them.

[Drummond]

`Same in my world friend....`

.... and in mine, too.

I moved to south Wales, from London, back in 2009. I've yet to visit the local library here (in fact, I'm not even, as I type, sure of where it's located !).

So my experiences of libraries is limited to just one borough of London. In my childhood, and into my teens, I enjoyed regular visits to it. The building was old, you might call it 'iconic', and the atmosphere there was a superb 'quiet, peaceful, musty' one. Easy to go there, relax, spend hours studying or be transported to the fictional worlds of the fiction writers as each book was read (or taken home). A maximum four books could be taken out at one time.

I moved to Essex for a decade, returning directly to the area afterwards. The building had ceased to be a library in my absence ... the local Muslims had taken it over and transformed it into a mosque ... !! ....

That was back in 2006.

Its replacement, a modern unit of the local shopping complex, boasts two separate rooms. One, the library itself. The other, an Internet Cafe run by the local council. Non-residents of that area are prohibited from using its facilities .. for those qualified, you get a cut-rate, nominal access fee for the first hour, and if you're antisocial enough to want to extend your usage time, the cost rises severalfold ....

So these days, I don't bother with them and just stick to Internet use from home ...

[KitchenKitten99]

Honestly I haven't been in one for about 5 years. Last time was to photocopy a page out of a car repair manual that I felt I really didn't want to have to purchase the whole book to get because I was on a super strict budget at the time while still in culinary school. The internet didn't have anything of significance in terms of step-by-step instructions on how to replace the power steering pump on my own with the old car.

Other than that, I personally just can't 'borrow' books or even movies anymore--from the library or even personally--because I truly do forget about returning them on time. I don't get much down time that would allow me to consistently read as I would rather continue to work on projects around the farm/house instead. We're finally getting into the task of updating the interior of our house vs. dumping all funds into the boarding operation to make it more viable.

What comes down to is if I am really wanting to read a book or movie, I just buy it (or use Netflix for movies online/via mail). I am not really into reading electronic books. I tried using the Kindle app, and while I did find some good reads in the 'free' section, I do prefer a physical book. I stare at screens all the time with my phone and laptop.

The last two times I checked out books from the library, I ended up with about $30 in fines (both times) just because they were so far overdue because the library closest to me is actually located where I have to make a true point to go, as my normal daily life doesn't take me anywhere near it.