Tag Archives: Libraries

Bookish Talk, Life

The Sunday Salon: Library Love

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Canyon Country Library
Our libraries were county-run  and were recently taken over by the city. During this process, they were closed for about three months. The new, city run facilities opened last week and I can’t tell you how happy I am!

They created “teen” centers in each one, added a slew of new computers and they are in the process of adding additional titles. This is all great, but what we missed before, what was sorely needed, was staff who cared about the patrons. We have that now. I’ve been to two libraries out of the three and so far, everyone has been extremely helpful and seems to really enjoy reading. Seems like such a simple thing but being a reader makes a huge difference.

What did I pick up?

Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver
Caribou Island, by David Vann
Full Dark, No Stars, by Stephen King
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu
The Upright Piano Player, by David Abbott

I don’t know how I will get through these in addition to everything I have been sent, and everything I’ve chosen to read this summer but it’s the kind of stress that I’m willing to live with.

The Sunday Salon

As for the rest of the day…

I just finished my errands. Can you believe that the Halloween stuff is being loaded into stores right now? Are they crazy? It’s bad enough with the back-to-school stuff but Halloween??

For dinner, I’ve got gluten-free chili cooking in the crock-pot and I am about to enjoy a cold glass of something and sit down with Duma Key. I am 400 pages in and loving every minute of it. What are you up to today?

Bookish Talk

Hello, Library. It’s been a long time.

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When it comes to my own reading, I find that I’m not a big user of the library system. Why? Well, when I want to read a particular book, I tend to want it read it right then so that’s where my Kindle becomes the most used device in my household, besides my BlackBerry. I love that you can pretty much hold any library item you want, but the waiting…Oh! The waiting drives me nuts. Especially for the most coveted titles. I mean, how can you plan your reading schedule when you are number 210 on a wait list?

Since I work for a university, I hit its library most often since it’s just a quick trot up the stairs. However, our faculty are allowed to check-out titles for a period of TWO years. That’s right. TWO YEARS which basically means that whatever they’ve checked out is never coming back. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a title listed as “on shelf” only for it not to be there.

Yesterday, I remembered that I had to pick-up my book club’s title for next month, A Very Long Engagement. Well, it’s not really a book I want to buy and it’s not a book I want to get on my Kindle either, so I took a chance and hit the university library to see if it was there. Lo and behold, it was and guess what else was there?

A Very Long Engagement

Looks a bit steamy, eh?

The Little Stranger

I’ve been wanting to read this one for ages.

It’s funny how a successful trip to the library can renew all the warm, fuzzy feelings you once felt for it. I go all the time for the kids, but it’s nice to actually find something for myself and it didn’t even cost me a dime. Gotta love that.