How do I love the library? Let me count the ways!
I know – a seemingly simple and boring blog topic, but come on. The library rocks these days.
Yesterday, my kids and I left the library with three bags filled with CD’s, DVD’s, magazines and books. I couldn’t believe the librarians were actually letting me leave with all of this stuff. For free? Really? Didn’t they know about my tendency to lose things? As I was walking out the automatic doors, I found myself looking over my shoulder, feeling as though at any moment The Library Police would sound their whistles, call me over to the desk and say, ”Ma’am, you have a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff in those bags – you can’t just take it. Hand it over.”
It got me thinking about how cool the library is. I know it sounds nerdy, but in this economy, who doesn’t love to save a buck or two? Everyone knows you can borrow books from the library, but my love affair with the library goes much deeper than that. How do I love the library? Let me count the ways:
1. The Summer Reading program makes my kids compete against each other to see how many books they can read in a summer.
2. Kids get their very own library cards.
3. The library has all the latest issues of “American Girl” and “National Geographic Kids” so I didn’t have to renew our subscriptions.
4. You can do homework with your kids argument-free. Everyone knows you have to be quiet in the library.
5. They have 15 different books on hammerhead sharks. If you happen to have a fan of hammerhead sharks, that comes in quite handy.
6. You can check out audiobooks, which are fun to listen to in the car with your kids. I find that since they are such a captive audience in the car, I can sneak a classic or two in and they don’t notice.
7. My active seven-year-old will sit for an hour with a stack of comic books he cannot really read yet.
8. That new check out machine! You can stack a ton of books on top of each other and “BING”!–the machine checks out all the books for us and prints a receipt. It’s so easy even my kids can do it.
9.With the computers, periodicals, and encyclopedias, is there a better place to work on a high school report?
10. Reading Hour. Sadly, my kids are too old for this now, but when they were younger, they really enjoyed it.
11. Free Wi-Fi.
12. When a book I want is checked out, I put my name on a list. When it comes in, I get an email letting me know they are holding it for me. Lovely.
13. I get email reminders when my books are about to be due (which has saved me big bucks in late fees).
I could go on and on but what about you? What do you love about your library?
-Shannon, StorySnoop
June 18th, 2010 at 6:28 PM
Shannon!
I love your list! I am sharing it with all of my librarian friends because it really made my day and reaffirmed why we do what we do. I put together a list of the Top 10 Things I love about the Central library. I’ll share it here, though you really covered it eloquently!
Top Ten Things to LOVE about the Central Library:
10. Architecture by Michael Graves creates a storybook castle feel next to the evil battle castle feel of the Denver Art Museum.
9. You can check out up to 300 books, 10 DVDs and 10 CDs.
8. Late fines are only a quarter a day.
7. The Fresh City Life program offers Fashion Shows, Knitting Groups, cooking classes and keeps the library active in entertaining the community.
6. TV shows check out for 3 weeks. That’s 3 weeks of all the Six Feet Under, Heroes, LOST, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, 24, The L Word or anything else you want that you can stand!
5. Amazingly expensive databases like Valueline, Morningstar, Consumer Reports, Auto Repair Reference Center and many more are available 24/7 from the comfort of your home. This includes eBooks, audio eBooks and eFlicks.
4. A World Class Western History and Genealogy Department on the 5th floor. These specialists can help you unearth your family tree and have tons of Colorado treasures stored in their archives.
3. Storytime and Book Babies offered multiple times a week in the adorable Children’s Library enthusiastically presented by Children’s Librarians.
2. The website. Place holds 24/7 to pick up at your leisure at your local branch. Make lists, write reviews and tag books all to help you and others find books, movies, CDs and so much more!
1. All of this is FREE with a library card. Amazing.
June 20th, 2010 at 5:45 PM
I really liked your library post, and I agree that local and school libraries are such great learning and fun resource. There is plenty to choose from, you can keep it for a long time, and it’s free. In the past, when my kids where tiny, I used to buy most of their books, but I realized that many of the older children literature isn’t even available on Amazon.com or B&N, only the library has it. My kids just love going and having the freedom to choose their own books, and I hope that they treasure that feeling throughout their life.
at http://www.readingisfun.me
Nice post!
Lena
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:32 AM
What a great reminder about how wonderful a library can be. Thank you.
July 15th, 2010 at 9:16 AM
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September 22nd, 2010 at 5:39 PM
You summed up perfectly the way I feel about the library. I go about once a week and fill up a giant Trader Joe’s bag with at least 30 books and the kids and I read them all through the week. I LOVE that I can put books on hold and they are waiting there for me the next time I go — how easy is that? And the fact that it’s all free is a marvel. I think about that every time I lug those books out — this isn’t costing a cent! Hard to believe. The other day I was in the library and an elderly gentlemen was asking the librarian for some recommendations for kids’ books for his grandchildren. He was so appreciative for all the great information she gave and she walked him over to find some of the books and I heard him say, “You know what? Most of my tax money goes to things that I don’t even see or even know if it’s worth it. But the library is really something and I think it is such a wonderful and worthwhile thing that my tax money goes for. Thank you.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
February 13th, 2011 at 9:07 PM
[...] you know that February is Library Lovers Month? Well, you know from this post that we love the library and we love our librarians! In honor of this occasion we’ve polled some [...]