One thing I’ll say for that terrible book about evil librarians, it did make me think about how much I deeply love libraries.

I think libraries are one of those things that are so omnipresent, we forget how amazing they really are.  So sometimes I try to stop and really think about it.

Imagine that you’ve never heard of a library.  You find out there’s a place where you can go and choose anything you want from thousands of books.  And you can take as many of these books away with you as you choose.  Libraries have a limit, but I’ve mostly seen it at 50, which is so high as to be nearly irrelevant.  You get to take all these books away with you completely for free.  You don’t have to pay them any money per book, or buy a membership, or give them any deposit to guarantee you’ll bring the books back.  You just show them a card (which you get for free) and they let you take armfuls of books away with you.

Most of the time, you can keep the books for a couple of months.  My library’s usual borrowing time is three weeks, and you can renew at least twice, if no one has the book on hold.

If the book you want isn’t in the library near you (and they scatter branches all over the city, so most people don’t have to go too far to get to the nearest!) you can search for another book anywhere else in the system.  Then they deliver it to any branch you choose, and they send you an email to let you know it’s ready and waiting.  They’ll keep it for you for over a week, so you can come and get it whenever you want.

My library is part of the Link+ system, so I can request books from a few dozen other library systems too.  You can’t renew those, and they come after your soul if you keep them out late (not quite, but it is a dollar-a-day late fine) but despite those drawbacks, it gives me access to even more vast numbers of books.

I couldn’t read the way I do if it weren’t for the library.  I go through twelve to fifteen books a month.  If I had to buy all of those, it would probably cost thousands of dollars a year. Even if I rented them at similar fees to Redbox or Netflix, it would cost me hundreds.  Instead, I can get brand new books, or old obscure books, and it doesn’t cost me a cent.

Sometimes I do have to wait for something popular.  But I just put my name on the list, and whenever I check my account online it tells me my number in the line, and they send me an email to let me know whenever it eventually comes.

Not to mention, libraries are the only public space I can think of that’s indoors, provides comfortable chairs and tables, and will let me sit for hours with a notebook or a laptop, completely free, without even buying a coffee.  Plus they put on activities and events, also free.

I really doubt anything I’m saying here seems like news to anyone.  But try really thinking about it.  Libraries are an amazing system.