The Library Is a Wonderful Thing

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   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   I haven't had cable TV for almost a month now.
   
   I've got 5 good books for Labor Day Weekend.
   
   Stuart Woods
   Year's best Sci-Fi
   Michael Crichton
   Robin Cook
   Tom Clancy

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      God is in kitchenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, it's a great hallucinogen

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   Stacie Lposted 12 years ago

   The library seems so antiquated now;with downloading books and online programs. It's become a community center which is a better use overall. I think it's quaint that you have actual books to read.

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm a quaint kind of guy.

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         Tired Buzzardposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         And there's just something about the feel and smell of books that no old online program or Kindle can replicate.

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            Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, the sneezing and the wheezing and the mold. The good old days
            
            I do like the smell of a new book but I have a Kindle and would never want to give it up.

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   EmpressFelicityposted 12 years ago

   As well as a library, we have some great charity shops that do three paperback books for £1.00 (about $1.50).
   
   When we finally got around to upgrading to digital (because they switched the analogue TV signal off lol), it meant we got about 20 TV channels instead of 4. Having an extra 16 channels doesn't mean we watch more TV though.
   
   I can't imagine paying for cable or its equivalent; it simply wouldn't be worth it for us 'cos we just don't watch that much TV. And we can't afford it.

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      CASE1WORKERposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Now I have a Kindle I am trying to get rid of those bargain paper backs- the charity shops are full of them- but luckily I work at a University and there are always piles of reading matter in the offices- the piles are getting bigger!

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   Dee aka Nonnaposted 12 years ago

   I think it is great that you are visiting and using your local library.  I love libraries and I love used book stores.  They are great places to go work, explore and do some good old fashion research.

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      Kathryn L Hillposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Strangely enough, this "antiquated" environment is one of the best for New Direction Education!

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   securityproducts3posted 12 years ago

   This is debatable. I personally am not a huge fan of the library!

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   Thelma Albertsposted 12 years ago

   Library is a wonderful place to do a research when you have no internet at home. Now, in this modern times, I usually do my research online but I do borrow books in the library for reading at bed times.

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   austinhealyposted 12 years ago

   Libraries are definitely a wonderful thing ! My local one has tons of books (imagine that !) but also movies on DVD, music on CDs and computers for everyone to check their Hubpages. Great place to meet people local too. Anybody who likes books can't be all bad...

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      Kathryn L Hillposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Anybody who likes to satisfy his own curiosity about life can't be all bad.   
      
      Parents, make sure your kids learn how to read when they are young! The world is so full of wonderful things and the library provides the quiet environment conducive to reading and contemplating.   If the Library does not set the boundary of silence, it should. Libraries should be places for quiet, for the sake of the ability to concentrate.

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         puregraceposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Agreed!

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   puregraceposted 12 years ago

   Our family loves the library. Our kids go at least twice a week, play on the computers, research some titles and topics, borrow twenty books (at least), and within the week, are ready for more.
   Our son's vocabulary scores are above the top on tests and his knowledge of literature is way up there. At 15, we're not sure where he'll end up, but it probably will have to do with books!!! Though he does love his i-Touch.

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      puregraceposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I wanted to add - because of the library and since we home school, our kids have all begun reading words at four years of age. The picture books at the library are perfect for the littlest ones to begin seeing words and the order of letters, as parents read them and point out the letters to the most interesting of words. These kinds of books are too expensive to buy but a few for most families. The library is the place for those kinds of books, plus all the non-fiction type that are good for research and discovering topics of all kinds.

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   classicalgeekposted 12 years ago

   Indeed, libraries are terrific! I volunteer at my local library (and wrote a hub about it, naturally). Last week I took one of my eleven-year-old piano students to get her very first library card. Not only do I get access to research materials that just are not available online, but I also don't have to wait for best-sellers, and I can get audiobooks and watch opera DVDs (or listen to the CDs) for some of my voice students to see if the roles might be suited to their voices. And even though I personally own eight million pages of sheet music, the library has all sorts of music I can't find because it's been out of print.
   
   In addition, most libraries, even little ones, often have special collections that the ordinary patron may not know about. I've held a baton that Igor Stravinsky conducted our local orchestra with, thanks to a behind-the-scenes look at my library (it pays to know  your librarian).
   
   Also, the research departments of libraries know all kinds of things. As a graduate student, I once had to find every periodical in my field. The other students with the assignment walked up and down the rows peering at the library shelves; I went to the research desk and asked if there was a catalogue of all the periodicals published in the world, categorized by field (there is). Even my instructor in graduate school was unaware of the catalogue, and she was so frustrated and mad I knew something that she didn't, it was a wonder I passed the class!
   
   So libraries are way more than moldly old books (oh, I read magazines there, too, instead of subscribing).

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    Cody Rineposted 12 years ago

    i like that. well put

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       Kathryn L Hillposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Cody, you must wear a shirt in the library... and put away that cell phone.

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    Cody Rineposted 12 years ago

    haha I'll remember that

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