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Library Card!!
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Yay for library cards and Yay for you! I love discovering a new library. Our little town library has relocated while Boro Hall is renovated and I was excited to see its' temporary spot (nicer than the one it had originally by far) and cannot wait until the new library opens next year! (We have a decent amount of books but they do order quite a lot for me from other branches).
Our town is busy looking for a new library site. We desperately need to expand. Two proposals on the ballot for the upcoming election on Tuesday.
That's so exciting Jackie! I love my library - it's big, and has a used bookstore inside run by volunteers. I go every week. And I've had the same library card since I was about 12 - I have the card number memorized. Libraries are the best.
I love libraries as well! I have my library card number memorized just like Sarah!When I was 8, I spent every day of the summer in my local library in the floor to ceiling window...reading, reading, reading!
I'm very happy for you Jackie!
I had my old one from the town I was born & raised in memorized, then I had the one memorized from the town I lived in for 12 years. We've lived here for 5 years but have 3 library cards w/how the system & branches work here so I don't have these memorized @ all!
I never thought about memorizing the card number. Ours has a scanner that they use, so I just give the card to them. I haven't used the "hold" feature online. I suppose if I became active like that, I would know the number in a day or two.
Jo, 3 library cards, that's crazy! I guess I never thought of how different counties and whatnot might operate their library cards and branches system. There are 33 branches in my county, I love it because it means I can get just about any book.
Elizabeth,
That's the only reason I remember mine, is because I put stuff on hold, and go online to check to see if holds came in or when my books are due. I love the holding-system, I probably wouldn't use the library as much if I couldn't get books sent from other branches. It is 50 cents per hold though, that adds up sometimes...
It's one for each main branch plus the county main branch. I have access to 5 libraries, 2 within walking distance, so I can too pretty much get ahold of anything. And our town library is hooked up to the county main branch so they can order anything they don't have. It's rare when I can't find something.Elizabeth, growing up and well into my 12 years living in the town before this one, they didn't have the scanner systems at the libraries here and because I always lost my cards (which they charged you to replace or look up the #), I just memorized my #s back then.
When I actually lived in next town over (in a different county), the main library was the next to a private university which houses its law school division. So, that library was well supported. For a while, I lived downtown which within walking distance and I'd walk to the library for books every week. That was my main form of entertainment since I didn't have a TV at the time. I knew logically, the library here wouldn't be nearly so big but I was really surprised it was so small. I mean, it wasn't much bigger than my high school library. So, I guess that means I'm going to be involved in the local FoL group.
That would be great Jackie! (Being involved with Friends of the Library). Our original town library, which has been in Borough Hall since the 70's was the same size as our basement! And in a borough & community this nice, I was so shocked the first time I walked in. I'd heard most of my life that it was small (having lived close to here and having a best friend grow up here) but I couldn't imagine that it was smaller than the town we moved from where the library is housed in an expanded bungalow but it was! Right now it's housed in the fireman's clubhouse during the borough hall renovation and it's a lovely, spacious setting and I hope they new library is at least as nice as the temporary one or better. We have the sweetest library staff and our director has been the director since the 70's (after working & volunteering there from 8th grade on up as she was born and raised here) & they deserve a great space to work in and the town deserves a library worthy of it's many faithful patrons.
I love hearing about library expansions and how towns are doing with this. It's hard for them to find the money just now especially. Thirty years ago our town (pop 8-10k) needed a new library, but we'd just built a new museum. The solution was to give up half the museum space for a library. Just as we expand our belongings to over-fill our closet space, the library is overflowing and needs to expand further, to say nothing of the fact that our museum has stuff stored all over town. The current space is about 6000 sq ft, and the plans are for 16,000 sq ft. FoL will be doing lots of fund-raising, tax dollars, and some matching money from the state.
Hope you can come up with some good fund-raising ideas for such a worthy cause.
Our library measure passed on Tuesday! Yay!The new location will have a view of the mountain in my avatar, but from a different angle. Reports say that if we can have planning at least 35% completed by February (I think that includes architectural plans), we can get up to half matching money from the state. I am so excited about this!
Love the library. I don't know what I would do without it. I read sooo much and watch so many movies and to be able to use the library and get it for free is AMAZING. Especially since I am not working right now it really helps out financially. One of the best public services provided other then parks.
A further follow-up on this. We had a bond issue on yesterday's local election ballot. It passed! The people in my town agreed to borrow the money for a new library! Yippee!!!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "A further follow-up on this. We had a bond issue on yesterday's local election ballot. It passed! The people in my town agreed to borrow the money for a new library! Yippee!!!"You are lucky. I think I live in a place full of a lot of stupid people. Our bond measure failed for funding the library system. The irony is that the tax money comes from property taxes. They did a poll and found that if only property owners (who would have paid the tax) voted on the issue, it would have passed. So, many of the people who voted no would have gotten something for nothing. Now, they appear to be clamoring to the library to borrow DVD's that are being paid for with my tax money, not theirs. All this while the library has cut the funding for acquisitions of children's books by 30-50% to pay for DVD's for illiterates who couldn't couldn't understand the tax code structure or read well enough to vote in their own self-interest. (I live in Las Vegas and we have one of the lowest levels of college educated people in the country. I believe that the percentage of people with advanced degrees is in the single digits.)
This has been a long time coming. Our Friends of the Library has been working toward this end for several years. But it really goes back further than that. 30 years ago we needed a library expansion. We were in the process of building a new museum. So the library solution was to give half the museum space to the library. With this bond issue - paid for by the general fund, so both sales tax revenue and property tax revenue - not only will we more than double the size of our library, but we'll double the size of our museum. Of course, in the intervening years, building codes have changed and it doesn't have the proper disability access, so that will be another battle left to fight.
Elizabeth, congratulations on the passing of the library measure! I just hope it doesn't take forever for it to become a reality!
Elizabeth, I'm glad the measure passed!!
Shay,
I can relate a bit. I live in an area with a very high school drop out rate (highest in the country as of 2004), advance degree holders here are about 5% and the estimates are 1 out of 4 adults are functionally illiterate.
It's a little sad to thing they would move funding from books to DVDs. I almost don't even know what to think about that.
I got one last winter, but still haven't had time to go in and borrow a book! i still have books in my bookshelf that need to be read, but i'm starting to run out of options...you know how sometimes you're just not in the mood to read a certain book...so i have a feeling the chicago public library will become a new friend!
Jackie, our state used the Tobacco Settlement monies to fund a scholarship for all students who attend a state institution. The GPA requirements, I believe, are about 3.3. About 1/2 of the kids on the scholarship need to attend remedial classes in college (under the 100 level). My son is in accelerated reading, 7th grade, and they are reading Peak. Not Shakespeare, not Dickens. Very sad...oh and our bond measure would have cost the average household (not person) $27 a year for 10 years. Children's books should be the last item cut in a library budget.
Well, I just got back from library with a huge stack of books (/glee!!). I'll say that getting the card has renewed my passion for reading. I've been in a funk for a while and I hadn't read all that much since the spring. I'm not thinking about what I can afford to buy so I just order all kinds of books. I also found out that the library has audio books that I can download to my ipod so we'll see if I can figure it out. One of my most treasured memories from childhood is the first time my mother took me the library. I walked into this building and there were all those wondrous volumes of knowledge and fun just waiting for me. And it was free! The library branch and its reading room became a haven for me. I think it's beyond sad that they would move funds from books to anything else, but most especially children's books. Libraries should be about books, right?
Monika wrote: "I got one last winter, but still haven't had time to go in and borrow a book! i still have books in my bookshelf that need to be read, but i'm starting to run out of options...you know how sometim..."
Monika:
So nice that your district library is a big city one. I grew up in the Chicago area but do not live there anymore. I would LOVE to be a patron of the Chicago Public Library! Enjoy :o)
Tracy
I am SO,SO unbelievably excited!!!!!! Today I was able to put in a application for a big city library card an hour and a half from where I live! I have really missed having access to a big city library. Now I will have the advantages that it entails. I think they have some great genealogy resources and I will have to research what else. This library is located in a city of 5.8 million people and it's EPUB collection is out of this world :o) I should have my card within 5-10 business days!
my library is terrible, they never get any books that aren't at least 20 years old, because they are donation only
Courtney, my local library is not very good either. I did some research today and found out the the larger city library closest to me apparently accepts patrons from around the state! Perhaps yours does the same :o)
YAY!!!! Got my big city library card yesterday :o)
Tracy wrote: "YAY!!!! Got my big city library card yesterday :o)"We'll know where to find you!
Yep, you can find me there almost all of my waking hours LOL :o)
Congrats Elizabeth on the library being passed! The location sounds wonderful. Wonder if the lobby while feature a sitting area that overlooks the view for cozy reading time.My local library has some of the latest books but it takes forever to get on the list. When I want something going back 10 years in fiction, sometimes it isn't in the system. And this is a METRO area. Sigh. But I will say the holding system when there isn't a long line is AWESOME. And I like that I can request books from another branch and have it delivered to my branch. I receive an email notification, too.
Reminds me I need to go pay off my dad's overdue fees on my account. I never complain about late fees. I pay it off and usually donate 40 books a year.
Sarah wrote: "That's so exciting Jackie! I love my library - it's big, and has a used bookstore inside run by volunteers. I go every week. And I've had the same library card since I was about 12 - I have the car..."That's so cute! I haven't had my card so long, cos Lord knows I've moved about but I do have my current number memorized. Power to the nerds!
Courtney wrote: "my library is terrible, they never get any books that aren't at least 20 years old, because they are donation only"Donation only? I never heard of such a thing! How terrible.
The library is small and kind of pitiful but they'll order books from other counties so I'm set.
Yes, I know. I'm easily amused. My husband got a kick out of how excited I was.