The Library Blues

Don’t let the title of this essay mislead you: I am profoundly thankful for the local public library system. Its online search capabilities are excellent; I can reserve a book and it will be transported free of charge from any of the numerous branches around the city. Because I continually need books, however, I don’t always have time to reserve them and wait for them to arrive. Rather than browse the physical shelves, to save time I often search the digital catalog for what is available at the closest branch the night before, and then I go soon after the library is open to pick up what I’ve found. And so I had arranged to do today. I had done my search and listed some titles, and shortly before ten I took a long walk so I would arrive just at the right time. It was not until I was inside that I realized to my dismay that I had left the list of books at home. I tried to remember the titles, or at least the authors, but I had chosen books that were previously unfamiliar to me and I had recorded their particulars in haste. I had no time to walk almost a mile back home, a mile to the library again, and then return home. The situation was made worse by the realization that I would finish the book I had been reading that afternoon and I might not have something with which to immediately replace it. Frustration! The best laid plans, and so on…

This was a minor inconvenience, though, compared to the library withdrawal I experienced when COVID-19 restrictions hit full force at the beginning of the pandemic. The library completely shut down for several months. I reread books off my shelves, and I bought some books online – but I couldn’t afford to keep that up for long. When the library reopened, at first patrons were not allowed inside. We had to reserve books online and then form lines outside, isolated from one another by distancing protocols, and enter the vestibule of the library in small groups to claim the books we had ordered. Those months of limited access to the library affect me even now. If I find discount books I’m interested in at used bookstores and bring them home, I won’t read them. Instead, I will set them aside – for the next pandemic – and continue to rely on the library for current needs. It reminds me of a story a sibling once told me about a relative who would hoard excessive amounts of household items; she’d lived through lean economic times and never wanted to be without the necessities. That’s how I feel about the books.

Thank God for the Seattle Public Library system! It is well-organized and works effectively. Most of the troubles I have with it are of my own making. To make sure I always have something with which to satiate my literary hunger, when I need one book I usually check out at least two or three – so that if the book I was planning on reading disappoints, I have backups. So it goes in the life of a confirmed book addict.