Sunday Musings: Back to the Library
I did it. I finally did it. I went to the library and renewed my library card after months of delinquency. I’m ashamed really. How could I let my library card expire? For shame indeed. Not that I haven’t visited lately. Our local library has many great programs for kids and my seven-year-old has been participating in the science activities that teach her about things like clouds and magnets. She doesn’t need me during these sessions, so I usually hang out reading a book–but not one I’ve actually borrowed from the library. I also moved recently and purged several books with a donation to the library’s box.
But I haven’t been to the library to borrow any books for a long time. This makes me sad because libraries and the whole process of borrowing books is such a sacred ritual. My daughters have library cards and they take out books, but it’s been so long since I have participated in this ritual. I missed it. So when I went to the library to renew my card, I took the time to walk the aisles. To slowly peruse the shelves and check out what was new and what the librarians were promoting as their favourite reads. To smell that wonderful scent of paper with words and images and hearts and souls burned into each page.
I have a large collection of digital and audiobooks, but there will always be something special about real books. Which is why my own bookshelf is such a personal treasure.
We recently moved into a new house and my pride and joy is my new library office. My bookshelf is loaded with books, magazines, and my obsessive Funko Pop! collection. There’s not enough room for it all, so the next step is the design and building of another set of shelves that will go behind my desk. It’s not exactly my dream library, because obviously, in my dream library, I’d be able to do this:
But it’s pretty damn close.
As for the public library, I’ve dived back into the borrowing process, though I’d focused mostly on audiobooks for the moment. I have a few books on hold though and I eagerly await that email or phone call to let me know I can come in and pick them up. I’ll hop into the car and rush over and smile at the librarian as she hands over my prize. I might rush back to the house to read it, or I might just hang out at the library a little longer, cozying up beside that creepy statue of an elderly man sitting in a chair, reading a book of his own.
The BiblioSanctum 
I love your bookcase, Wendy! And I agree about libraries–the smell of books is wonderful! I hadn’t borrowed books from my library for about six months and have checked out a number of books in the last couple of weeks. Feels so good.
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We were there yesterday again and ended up spending an hour in the basement where they had a 3D printer and doodler workshop going on. Libraries are definitely sacred places!
Funny thing is that I’d actually gone to pick up one of the books I’d placed on hold, but got there too late and it had already been put back on the shelves I guess — but I can’t remember what book I’d requested! Oh well. Good thing I found five others to borrow 😀
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Yeah, bookcase looking good
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Library cards can expire!!! ??? What an evil library. Here I did have to get a new one but that was cos they updated them.
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Yeah! I was surprised! I’m not sure what the logic is, but I just had to take it back in and they updated it. No charge or anything. It was a good excuse to finally get back to the library, so I’m not complaining 🙂
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Glad to hear you got your library card renewed! 😀 I love it when those magical e-mails come in that say a book you put on hold has become available. 😀
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I want to buy books all the time. But in recent years I have tried to support my local library more and thumbs up to the Columbia, SC Richland Library! Well done I say! Also – I want your book cases! Wow!
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Actual bookcase courtesy of good old IKEA!
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I wish my library had a better SFF selection, particularly with their audiobooks!
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Slowly but surely mine is improving. They have a pretty good selection now and are also getting a lot of graphic novels.
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It’s true, e-books and audiobooks make our life simpler – and less cluttered! – but there is still that magical feeling of looking at an array of book spines and wondering what treasures we might find there… 🙂
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They are truly treasures. I love the way the spines look all together. Like a poem and painting rolled into one.
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I’m actually borrowing my first library book for the first time in years right now. I’m doing a “market research” project on fairy novels, and was on-the-fence about a few of the recommendations I’d gotten. So, instead of buying those books I’m unsure of, I’ll borrow them from my local library instead. That way, if I don’t like them, I won’t feel like I’ve wasted my money. (*blushes*)
Love your office bookshelves, btw! Are those samurai swords at the top?
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Yup, they are real! A long ago birthday gift my friends got for me.
Don’t feel bad about borrowing the books first. Money is precious. I’d rather only spend it on things I’m sure about.
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Beautiful post! Since I became an ebook convert (mostly for storage issues), my visits to libraries and bookstores are few and far between. I do miss it. I occasionally have to huff some of the few books I’ve kept just to smell the paper and remember…
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I’ve actually still been loading up my bookshelf, but mostly because bookoutlet.ca is so tempting….
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Your bookcase looks so much more organised than mine – I’m well jealous! And, yeah, I was using the library so much myself until just recently when I seem to have tailed off. My main problem is that sometimes I’m not at home and I forget to take the books back – then I end up with book fines and it just makes me grumpy! I could be buying books with those book fines. All my own fault of course but I’m just very unorganised. I need to get back into my library though.
Lynn 😀
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