Bookish Thoughts: Becoming a “Library Person”

Jacki — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:24:01 +0000

The town I grew up in is admittedly small. I could go into all the mumbo jumbo about the 2 stop lights, the one restaurant, the cornfields on Main Street, but I’ll spare you all of that. What I really want to talk about is the library. I have had a book in my hand since I could read, and for maybe the first 5 years of that, the library in town served me well. There was virtually no young adult section and literally 4 aisles of adult books. No joke. So, although I was reading through junior high and high school, I pretty much swore off the library. I read all the books there that I wanted to and then discovered the wonderful world of bookstores.

For several years, I lived in Columbus and they really do have a great library system. However, I used it only a couple of times before they said I didn’t take my books back (I did!) and reported me to a credit bureau. My relationship with the library just never mended.

Now I’ve found myself devouring books at a crazy pace and too cheap to buy books at full price. It’s a problem.

Our library system is actually pretty impressive and even if the library closest to me doesn’t have the book I want, they can usually get them in just a few days. I can request and renew books online and even download audio and ebooks from home. It’s amazing and it’s free.

So. I’m making myself be a library person. I’ve been going regularly for the last few weeks. I do like owning books and being able to re-read them, but I’ve told myself that if I love a book and want to own it, that I will be able to buy it later. This just saves me buying books that I don’t love. Beyond that, my primary source of books are library sales and thrift stores, so I usually just read whatever is available. Being able to actually choose the books I’m reading and reading more current books is already something that I’m loving.

Lovely Little Shelf » resolution

Bookish Thoughts: Becoming a “Library Person”