I decided long ago that library fines are my way of donating to the public library system. This policy allows me to continue the super-nerdy behaviour I displayed as a book-hungry youth. In grade six I left the Black Mountain, North Carolina, school library after our weekly class visits with a teetering pile of books I’d have to anchor with my chin in order to walk them safely back to the classroom. What did I care about what the other kids thought of me for being so overtly bookish? I had friends in those marvelous books and they loved me just the way I was. So there.
Now, I tend towards entitlement in a library. I consider a public library to be my library. This is not always to my benefit. I’ve been known to try the patience of a librarian now and then with my deep-seated territorialism. I get along very well with librarians who respect my hunger and genuinely help me feed my need. Those who don’t, those who persist in seeing my hunger as either arrogance or head-scratching lostness … well, I do try to get along. Really, I do.
My point is that I root through libraries, even our tiny, local island branch, like a wild boar rooting through a patch of delectable rutabagas. Dirt flies. Glee galvanizes my attention. The pile of books in my arms grows. I do draw the line at elbowing other patrons out of the way so I can get to the good stuff first, but (I have to be honest here) that sometimes requires superhuman strength. Greed is so uncivilized.
So. I have no qualms about checking out absurd quantities of library items at any given time and then paying my dues when I can’t get through them all before they’re due. What can I say? I need what I need when I need it. A glut of food for thought is worth every penny paid.
Here are a few recently unearthed rutabagas I quite enjoyed:
The Boun
ce Back Book: How to Thrive in the Face of Adversity, Setbacks, and Losses, by Karen Salmansohn
Idea Revolution: Guidelines and Prompts for Brainstorming Alone, in Groups or with Clients, by Clare Warmke and Lisa Buchanan
The Stress-Free Home: Beautiful Interiors for Serenity and Harmonious Living, by Jackie Craven
Instant Intuition: A Psychic’s Guide to Finding Answers to Life’s Important Questions, by Anne Jirsch
Related reading: Make the Most of Your Public Library, New Society Publishers
6 Comments
SISTER! I could have written this word-for-word, LOL! I LOVE LIBRARIES
how did *that* happen? Every point you made resonates deep within me. I am who I am in any good sense because of libraries and the aid of librarians.
If I may recommend my current favorite? “Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul” Deepak Chopra — he’s synthesizing every random, scattered thought I’ve had in the last few years re time, aging and health.
Thank you Grace for this love letter to libraries!
What would the opposite of an Anonymous group be for us?
“Hello, my name is Grace and I’m an unabashed bibliophile. Furthermore, I have no intention of changing. [Raspberry sound.]”
Yet one more good reason to know you, Jo. And thanks for the recommendation. Keep ’em comin’.
LOL! I love it! Talk about a real support group! I want one!
I know I’m addicted to reading/books. Have been around alcoholics, gambling addicts, drug addicts and I know the signs — you do NOT want to be around me if I have nothing to read when I finish my current. Not a pretty sight, LOL!
Hello! My name is jo and I read!
My favorite childhood memory is Saturday morning library trips with Dad. I loved to check out the “young adult” books when I was still a grade-schooler. I’ll never forget the day the librarian told me I was “too young” to get a particular book. I started to put it away, and my Dad spoke up “She can check out any book that she wants.” Whoa. Awesome freedom. Awesome responsibility.
My love affair with books has not ended yet.
Jo, I recently *had* to buy a Kindle because of the massive level of anxiety I was experiencing when I was getting to the end of a book without something in the wings!
Hello, my name is Andrea, and I’m an obsessive book reader.
You’re both cracking me up. Let the meeting begin. (Who brought dessert?)
I think this must be one of the signs of being a member of the Biblio Tribe: I very often *have to* (if not **HAVE TO**) have a particular book (or DVD). And the mental gymnastics I tolerate to gain a foothold of rationalization astonish me! “I actually only need about 287 grains of rice per meal, rather than the usual 523, so that’ll get me … let’s see … YES! It looks like I can get that book NOW after all.”
It’s shocking how little guilt I feel in such situations (about minus 86%).