This post at MoneyNing (and part of the Festival of Frugality) baffled me. I'm always shocked when I hear that somebody does not think that the library is the bee's knees. Somebody thinking the library is not super awesome always makes me sad, and I'm glad that he has found out that "the library is not as bad as you think."
Of course, my mother is a librarian by training, and we practically lived in the library during my childhood. I used the college library as a safe haven when I hated my first college roommate, and found it an oasis of peace and sanity when I was working my patotie off at a job I hated- I walked to the library and spent as much as my lunch hour there as possible. In grad school, when I was about to lose it, I would go take a breather in the library. And when we moved to Kansas, it was the second card we got, next to the driver's license which would allow us to prove ourselves Kansas residents so we could use the library.
Articles like that always make me sad. Not that he discovered the library, but that it took him so long, and that according to his statistics, most people have not set foot in a library in years. It concerns me because libraries are funded by tax money. If you never, ever use a service, you many not vote for bond issues. Or maybe you do use it, but still vote down the bond issue. My mother currently works in a library that would have had to shut down a few years ago if a bond issue had not passed. I remember people saying at the time that it would never happen, but why not? The issue did pass, but barely. And many libraries are already closing for lack of money.
Books and other resources are very expensive, and the fact that we have a system where we can use them wonderful to me. I save hundreds of dollars a month because I don' t buy all the books I read and DVD's I watch and CD's I listen to. I try to be as careful with those materials as I can be, and I bring those materials back. The library district my mother works for had to retain a collection agency, because they were losing over a million dollars a year in lost books, unpaid fines, etc. People were very angry about this, but what else can they do? They tried to have the materials back. In fact, they often would wave insane late fees if they would bring the book back, and people still were not complying. They hated to get the collection agency, and debated about it for years. In the end, it was get the agency, or have an extremely limited collection, or close because they could not afford to keep replacing materials. What would you do, if you had to make that choice?
If you don't already, go to your library! Enjoy the many things they have available to you. If they ask for more money, carefully consider why before you automatically say no. The library is one of my biggest frugality tools, but even before I was consciously frugal, it was a safe haven for me. The library is one place where everybody, no matter their income, can have equal access to resources. Don't take the privilege lightly.
3 comments:
Goodness! I can't imagine a life without a library.
I think I got my first card when I was about 5. I had to be able to sign both my first AND last name. ;)
I was such a regular at that library. My sister and I would sometimes DAILY walk 2 miles (one way) to the library. All the librarians recognized us on sight. They would sometimes even let me check out my sister's books on hold for her. Shoot, I STILL have that card number memorized cuz I must have typed it in 80 billion times for all the holds I placed online. :D
We moved to a different town, and again we were only 2 miles from the library - except it was all uphill going back home. So sometimes we'd walk and wait for a parent to pick us up for a ride back up. :)
Finally I got my driver's license, and I joined yet another library near my college. That's right! I had access to 3 very large libraries. Had to work at trying not to get the book returns mixed up. :P
Then I moved to a new state when I got married. I think I avoided the library for 6 months. It was almost like putting roots in the town, joining the library. But... might as well get some interesting books for free!
Just a few months ago I finally let myself access my library from home and started placing holds galore. Well, only 10 at a time is allowed. But now I'm back into my library routine, going once or twice a week. Shoot, I went to the library yesterday because I had hit my limit on my holds and they had 4 books waiting for me. That night I promptly placed a hold on some new books, and now I've hit my limit again. :)
Say, could you do a post on frugal/financial books you enjoy? I mean I know a few of the obvious, but I'm always on the lookout for more!
I used to be a big fan of libraries when I was a student for the reasons you listed, but now I have little use for them.
My public library has a 50$ yearly membership charge (double that for non-residents) and then you have to pay if you want to take out a best seller (2$ for a week, non-renewable), get a book from another branch (50 cents to 2$ depending on the book), put a book on hold (50 cents), rent a movie (2.50$) or cd (1.50$), etc. At those prices, I'd rather just buy my books, movies, and cds used. Besides, I read little fiction and have specialized interests, so I rather own the books I read since I'll refer to them again.
If my public library was free to join, then I'd use it to read newspapers and magazines for free, but since that's not possible, I go to Chapters (bookstore comparable to Barnes and Noble) where you can read ANYTHING in the store for as long as you want without paying a 50$ annual fee.
Yes, I'm bitter. :-(
It amazes me just how many people don't use libraries. Going to the library each week was one of my favorite childhood activities. And as an adult, I still enjoy it just as much.
I'm not typically a political activist, but our library's budget had been severely slashed a few years ago, and it needed money desperately. We rarely got new books, they were running out of room, etc. The city held an election to raise the sales tax by 1/4 of a cent, with the proceeds going to the parks and libraries. That was the only time I have ever had a political sign in my yard, but I wanted my whole neighborhood to know about this election and to vote YES!
In a city of about 100,000 people, only 1000 or so voted. Thankfully, those who voted were the ones who cared about the future of the library. We now have a beautiful new building, a frequently-updated new books area, tons of materials, computers, study rooms, comfortable seating.
If I didn't have library access, I'd wind up broke from all the books and DVDs I would wind up buying.
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