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Do you use your library?
That's interesting, our family's Cornish too, Pat. From the Bodmin area.
I found out that my Grandad on my Mums side went off to war in July 1914 and had been killed by the 15th September the same year. One of my Aunties was born in August that year - so he never saw her - so sad. My Mum's other sister died age 19 from a diabetic coma, in what had just finished being used as Cardiff's Workhouse, and was in the process of being used as a pre-nhs medical centre/hospital. On top of the problem of Insulin not being used at this time - she also worked in a sweet shop!! This probably made things ten times worse for her! Stop me now or I'll still be rabbiting in half an hour about all the 'interesting' things I found out about... :0)
Five of my grandmother's six brothers were in WW1. Two killed outright, one died later of injuries received in mustard gas attack, not seeing his youngest son born. One more had shell shock from having spent whole war in trenches. Eldest survived unscathed. Youngest brother too young to fight, died of TB in 1920s. Tragic. My GM was nurse in WW1.
As the Grandfather I mentioned was gone long before I was born - as a child, I just accepted that he wasn't there and can't ever remember wondering what he was like. My Gran had remarried so I don't suppose it was encouraged for my Mum to have asked questions with a new "father" on the scene. Besides - kids were to be seen and not heard in those days. As my Mum didn't know much she would not have passed anything on to me or the rest of my family. As a grown up it all began to be important, so I'm glad I started with the Family Tree.
These stories are incredible. As the youngest daughter of a youngest daughter, both my grandfathers had died before I was born. I have loads of memories - anecdotes and "stories" - and family photos including a very early one on glass. I think nobody wanted to be explicit though, or dwell on the sad side. And all too often we do not become interested in our family's history until many of them have died.
I did a little bit of research for my friend too. She said if you find any money - it's 50/50!! Well I'd only gone 2 generations back and lo and behold I found some of her relatives lived in a big house in the "posh" part of Cardiff.... just her luck though - think they must have been spendthrifts or whatever as the money didn't drift down to her generation!!
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That sounds like a good idea - apologies - we have rather gone "off piste" so to speak :0)
Good idea Paul. Seriously! Family history is a fascinating subject. Didn't mention my GF who was in the Royal Flying Corps. He served with Lawrence of Arabia. Have a photo of them.
...my GF who was in the Royal Flying Corps. He served with Lawrence of Arabia. Have a photo of them."What an adventure!
I really wish I had got to know him but he died when I was a baby. I do have some of his papers and medal from the war though.
We're supposed to be having a new library built in the town where I live (current one is tiny with no books left that I want to read). I was just checking on its progress and saw a survey which said that 80% of respondents thought that it was very important to have a good selection of books in the new library - what on earth did the other 20% think??
I am concerned about our local library. A few years ago I decided to use this rather than a larger library in a busier town - so as to increase demand really. I was pleasantly surprised though to find that although the opening hours had shrunk to 3 days a week, it was well used. All types of folk used it during the week, and plenty of children/families at the weekend. It also had a good selection of books, DVDs and audio. 6 bays of Large Print alone!
A couple of weeks ago I found they'd updated their technology to the sort of retrieval machine that displays the title of your book before you've even got there -(how DOES it do that?)- flashing blue lights and all very hi-tech. But the space! There only seemed to be about a third as many books. Sure enough when I checked there were only 2 bays for Large Print books. DVDs which had filled 4 bays were now only in 1 tiny carousel like you get in charity shops, and so on.
I commented on this, and the librarian agreed there were far fewer book. "We're getting some more," she said. I was dubious. The books were always current stock, and well replaced. Something else was going on...
This week I found out. The Parish Council offices are moving and "sharing the site" with the library. They kept this very quiet.
I can now project the next few years:
1. Readers will say there is not enough choice in the library (which will be true.)
2. Numbers will fall off.
3. The Local Authority will close the branch.
Doesn't this sound like planned obsolescence to you?
Joy wrote: "We're supposed to be having a new library built in the town where I live (current one is tiny with no books left that I want to read). I was just checking on its progress and saw a survey which said that 80% of respondents thought that it was very important to have a good selection of books in the new library - what on earth did the other 20% think?? ..."My guess is they wanted computers with internet access, DVDs, and/or music CDs. These are all popular library items these days
Jean wrote: "I am concerned about our local library. A few years ago I decided to use this rather than a larger library in a busier town - so as to increase demand really. I was pleasantly surprised though to..."
Yes and they are just sneaky enough to do it too!!
I love libraries, but don't have one close. There's one in the town I work, but as I work nights it's never open while I'm there. And the time and effort it takes to get there makes it hard to justify when I have so few daylight hours. Hoping to move sometime soon. I'd like to live within walking distance of a library.
The closest library is two towns over, so I do my weekly shop two towns over and get books then. There is a wealth of books that I would never buy, so I love the library.
I use my library a great deal. In fact, I'm in the fortunate position where I have a library only 5 minutes drive from where I live and this library is one of three for the area that I can access. I'm also a member of a library 15 minutes away that also has another two libraries (making three altogether) that also use. I'm also a member of a few other ones which are a long way away nd I don't really access them much these days.
I use my library constantly. I go to the library to check out all the books I can't borrow on my Nook (which is the best part about having my Nook, checking out library books at home). I don't buy books (there isn't enough money or shelf space in my life for my love of reading), so the library is my favorite place! So thankful to have such a great system at my fingertips!
Today I re-registered at my local library, as my membership had lapsed through not using it. I couldn't get the specific book I wanted (A Severed Head)as only one copy in East Sussex, but did find The Last Runaway. I have quite enjoyed other books I've read by Tracy Chevalier. I was apparently the first person to have borrowed it (mustn't spill anything on the pristine pages!) and there were 2 copies on the shelf, which I thought was strange.I was also pleased to discover that I can download ebooks from the library site (selection of about 250) though I haven't managed to make it work yet.
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It is always too tempting!
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That's the joy of the library though, you can borrow, peruse, browse and decide whether or not to read and you've lost absolutely nothing.
Important to use library, although I lapse myself. A librarian told me(in UK) that the more books you take out of a local library the higher up they are graded. That's important if you want newer books in local library. The higher the grade the newer the books they can have on their shelves. It's purely numbers based so if you take out 10 books a day, whether read or not, and all do this consistently then library will go up to higher grades.
.....isn't that s l i g h t l y sneaky??? (but who cares!)
Pat (127) so I reiterate my worries (115) From what you say it seems even more likely that what they are doing here is building in obsolescence. Such a shame.
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Paul - do not understand. Did the readers withdraw by stopping using it? Was the "mass withdrawal" of their work by the staff? Ah! Light begins to dawn - do you mean lots of people borrowed lots of books? (Sorry if I'm being dim here!)
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I normally run over (currently 8 over)
Ah - Now I understand thank you. I remember at one point our libraries allowed you to take out 12 "items". The odd thing was that you could have 12 of each type of material. So you could have 12 books, 12 CDs and so on. I think most people thought it was an inclusive 12.
Pat wrote: "Important to use library, although I lapse myself. A librarian told me(in UK) that the more books you take out of a local library the higher up they are graded. That's important if you want newer b..."That's very interesting - now I see why my local library has so few books! I'll head down and borrow some more!
My library saga continues. Today I couldn't get any of the books that were on my Goodreads list, but did come away with half a dozen that I think I may like. It reminded me of how I used to use the library in pre-computer days; I never went to find a particular book, but just browsed the shelves to see what appealed.
Ah, those far-off days! It's virtually impossible to do that here now with so little stock. On the other hand I can pick up some real bargains in library sales, and they are quite a recent development.
Libraries are so amazing. Even if you don't get the books you want, there are so many books that look interesting. You can just try them out and if no good, just take them back. Its like a lovely bookshop thats free! In addition the library staff are happy to talk (briefly, as they are busy) about a book if they see one in your hand and they have read it. They get all our book club books for us (there are quite a few book clubs in our town) for free. I would pay a fee to join our library but don't let the council know as they would insist on it. Even if you have no money you can use the library. If you live in an outlying village and have no transport we have an excellent mobile library too. Marvellous.
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Well said!
I have used my local library in my local university town a couple of times but it's finding the time to read while I'm at university, haha. I started using my local library at home over the summer, it's something I will probably use when I'm home for good.
Pat wrote: "Libraries are so amazing. Even if you don't get the books you want, there are so many books that look interesting. You can just try them out and if no good, just take them back. Its like a lovely b..."Pat, you are so very right. I'm a retired teacher living in a tiny town (2200) in Michigan--we don't have a stoplight, but our tiny library is a gem. I'm part of the Friends of the Library, which is a great group. Being retired, I get almost all my books from the library and no longer buy so many--and since we are networked with 62 other libraries, they can get just about any title for which I ask.
I love this quote:
“Libraries are a force for good. They wear capes. They fight evil. They don’t get upset when you don’t send them a card on their birthdays. (Though they will charge you if you’re late returning a book.) They serve communities. The town without a library is a town without a soul. The library card is a passport to wonders and miracles, glimpses into other lives, religions, experiences, the hopes and dreams and strivings of ALL human beings, and it is this passport that opens our eyes and hearts to the world beyond our front doors, that is one of our best hopes against tyranny, xenophobia, hopelessness, despair, anarchy, and ignorance. Libraries are the torch of the world, illuminating the path when it feels too dark to see. We mustn’t allow that torch to be extinguished.”
― Libba Bray
Thank you Julia. I am going to copy and paste that quote to FB. It is marvellous. I almost had a tear in my eye (I am tired and so prone to a quick weep. After a good nights sleep I will be back to normal Haha).
I love the image of a library as a torch wearing a cape :-) As I watch the services expand into electronics, I try to see all the innovations as new ways of reaching the community--but ah, the feel of a book in my hand!This image always brings a tear to my eye, Pat--some things are worth a weep.
Of course, William! If you forget that that you already own a book and it's on your shelves, it's like rediscovering it all over again.Did that image of a torch make anyone else have a flashback to their childhood and hours of reading under the sheets after bedtime...?
Ah, Jean--the old "flashlight under the covers" :-) Thanks for the memory.I love how my daughter shelves her books--she puts authors next to each other who would enjoy each other's company! Think I'm going to try that--I like the idea that the books might whisper to each other :-)
Julia wrote: "Ah, Jean--the old "flashlight under the covers" :-) Thanks for the memory.I love how my daughter shelves her books--she puts authors next to each other who would enjoy each other's company! Think..."
Ooh I love that idea of authors or books whispering to each other. I've got Hilary Mantel, Haruki Murakami and Truman Capote sitting next to each other. I wonder what they might have to say to each other?!
That's a lovely thought. I may start shelving mine that way too. The young are excellent at making us look at things afresh. Thanks for that.
Thanks, Pat and Jean--my daughter is my guide in so many ways. Reading her bookshelves is an adventure--she introduced me to Haruki Murakami, Paul Auster, Jonathan Carroll, Graham Joyce, Margaret Atwood, Nick Bantok--and so many others.What a joy to know that reading to my children has continued throughout our lives--only now they are the ones leading me :-)
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He's ove..."
I have been researching for about 2 years now - and yes, the files do tend to build up. I have managed to go back as far as 1545ish with one branch of my mother's family - mainly due to our Cornish ancestors keeping such good parish records!! I've found out so many things that I didn't know - and since my Mum's gone I can't ask her.
Some of the names the research has thrown up are interesting in themselves - one of my ancestors was called Pentecost Sara.