highly sensitive power

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
Jorge Luis Borges

For a vast selection of cheap thrills, head to … your local public library. But dig deep. Books are only the tip of the iceberg.

These days, with the Internet acting as connector and entire regions pooling their resources, even rural and off-the-beaten-path communities often have access to vast resources through their public libraries.

I’ve been grilling librarians all over North America for decades, and I find that if I stay sharp, even while asking what I think are tedious questions, I can catch the gems they toss out – references to astonishing marvels of library services I’d never have thought to ask about.

Here’s a sampling of the offerings of the Vancouver Public Library system (and still only the tip of the iceberg). The most basic services – likely to be in all libraries – are listed first. If any of the following services attract you, ask about them at your local public library. And stay alert for hints of further treasures.

Internet Access – Search the library’s catalogue of holdings, check due dates, renew items, discover programs and presentations coming up, and access a virtually endless variety of other options, including placing holds.

Placing Holds – If the item you want isn’t listed in the branch closest to you, you can usually request that it be sent to your branch. This is particularly useful if the item is popular and you’re not likely to find it on a shelf anytime soon. Placing a hold puts you in a line-up for the item. The library notifies you when it comes in.

Interlibrary Loans – What if your entire regional library system doesn’t have the item you need? Never fear, you can request it through the interlibrary loan department, often via Internet. The interlibrarians (pardon me) will search nearby library systems first, including universities, and then search further afield until they find it. I currently have an interlibrary loan book that came from the Chicago Public Library, so items even travel across international borders.

Music, Videos, and DVDs – From the crush I regularly see at my local branch’s DVD shelves, getting free movies from the library makes good sense to a lot of people. Placing holds on movies makes this service even more useful since the generally depleted DVD shelves mean getting hold of that hot new film could take a while – and even longer if it’s not owned by your branch.

Electronic Resources – So much information is available through the Vancouver Public Library’s electronic resources that it’s easy to become overwhelmed. The prize for accessing these resources via the public library is that the library provides free access to otherwise costly resources, like newspaper and magazine article collections, encyclopedias, databases, and entire books online (through Books 24/7, for example).

Genealogical Data – The amount of genealogical information made available at local libraries makes me weep with joy. For example, the Vancouver Public Library offers access to Ancestry.com (the library version, which is more extensive than the free version), which has allowed me to discover great stories and data about my ancestors, for free.

Historical Archives – Many of the libraries I’ve hung out in have a cool, sequestered area tucked away somewhere that houses archives, information, and even photos and artefacts about the region’s history.

Pictorial Reference Files – Rows of file cabinets line an alcove in the art department of Vancouver’s central library. Inside are browsable files containing a mind-boggling array of images from magazines and other sources, organized alphabetically by topic. If you need to see a variety of bear pictures or examples of Bauhaus architecture but don’t need a whole book’s worth of info, dig in.

And smile at the librarians. They’re the stewards of Paradise.

Flickr photo: Vancouver Public Library, by singsing sky

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