Good morning. We are in the middle of a storm here in Central Minnesota. I mean… seriously.
I took the above picture from my back deck and was plastered with rain from the high winds. Weather has been so weird here. I put a better video on Facebook.
Anyhoo… this post was not meant to be about the weather. We have better things to talk about than that 🙂
What I wanted to chat about it Libraries. Felicia at Geeky Bloggers Book Blog has been running these great library posts for September as it is National Library Card Month. As soon as I seen what she was doing I knew I wanted to be involved but of course my life stuff got in the way and here we are on September 4th and finally getting with it. 🙂
You know I love our local Library. If they would let me stay on the roof and raise money for a cause …. but they will not let me do that and yes, I asked…. but trust me…
there are other things I can do. 😉
I am so passionate about Libraries and what they offer. My goal is to spread the word that today’s Library goes beyond the books… our library does sooooo much more. We:
- Rent movies and audio books
- have computer classes
- Author events
- Adult and children book clubs
- Reading programs
- weekly reading time in the childrens area
- a Teen hangout area
- IPADs to use in the library
- computers to use
- conference rooms large and small that you can use for meetings and events
- contests
- historic information (Scandinavian week is coming soon!)
- Assistance in how to use your e readers to the fullest
- order in special request books
- able to check out books from a number of connected libraries that will send the book to our library for you
- Book In The Bag program – 10 copies of the same book to be checked out together for reading groups.
- Book sales
- and more to come 🙂
I know there is more, but that is what I have off the top of my head. The Library staff works hard to stay educated and current on what the needs of our community are. It is absolutely an honor to be a part of it.
I will be talking more about my library this month but for now… power looks like it is back on and I need to prepare for my day. My questions I leave you with are:
Do you have a local library?
Do you visit it and if so how often?
Does your family members have library cards?
Do you know what your library offers besides book check out?
Do you think your community would be missing something important (Or is missing something important) if your library was no longer there?
I am thinking of an idea to get more power behind this discussion but for now… I have to go and there it is. 🙂
Book Journey 
I would be lost without my library…and BROKE…..i get to.put in requests for new releases and not pay $30 for the book….i can read an entire backlist just by clicking a button! I am watching the entire series of lost using my library card. My husband loves watching the stuff i come home with. I entertained my kids when they were young by going to the library and would leave with my 50 item limit each time. Now when they want something i order it thru inter library loan for them. Libraries are the 1 thing i dont complain about on my tax bill. Libraries ROCK
That is awesome! What a testimony!
I love my library. I joined the Friends of the Library six months ago and am now looking into board position. I’m at the library at least twice a week and I love the librarians to death. My brother just got his first apartment and I was happier when he got his library card than anything else. There’s an elementary school across the street from one of our branches and I know a lot of the children come to the library after school until their parents can pick them up. If that wasn’t an option, I don’t know where the kids would be. The librarians find ways to keep them engaged in learning activities for the time they’re there and there’s nothing more important than helping a child learn; nothing.
That is so cool! Your library sounds very active!
I have so many books on my stacks, that I haven’t visited my library in a while, but I do love it. It is a wonderfully welcoming place…and I have rented movies, etc. I have also used the computers when my old desktop was having repairs done. I donate books for the collection drives. Haven’t gone to the sales, though, since my goal is MOVING THINGS OFF my stacks…LOL.
Awesome Laurel – I love that you donate books as do I every time I need to “purge” a little 😉
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE! I seriously *heart* my libraries! I belong to 3 because in the Metroplex each city system has their own but certain towns will make deals where you can belong to another town’s library. There is so much to do, learn, and get out of a local library. Even if you have 1000’s of personal books (looks at self and then ignores the shelf again) you can fill in series (without adding to said shelf that I am ignoring) , you can research things (in the last 6 months alone I have checked out more DIY books than anything), and even track your genealogy . I will be back here all day to see what people are saying because I love reading about other people’s library love!
That is so cool and I love how you mention that even those of us with a ton of books (not looking at my shelves at all 😉 ) can stillgo in and find amazing things to check out! As you said – it is a great way to pick up that next in the series – or if you are offered a book for review that is not the first in a series – you can catch up… at the library!
We do have a library in our suburb. I used to be a regular user but then I started blogging and books started pouring in. I’m sad to say I’m the only member of my family with a library card. Our library has PCs you can use and books, movies, audiobooks, and video games to check out. It’s not a huge branch but they can get books from other libraries in our county.
That is wonderful Kathy! I need to use my card more definitely and I love their audio book collection and of course, if I want to continue a series I had for review, the library an be the way to go!
I love my local library! The kids and I have library cards and we visit often. They are currently renovating our library and it’s going to look sleek, modern and will be so much bigger.
That is wonderful Laura! We could use more room but our kind of land locked and a hill behind us. It can be done but it would be a HUGE campaign!
I love the Sterling Heights Public Library. I have my mother living with me and she is blind, so I borrow a lot of audiobooks for her from SHPL. I can get the CDs, or sometimes download the electronic files. I am always filled up on my audibook request list.
That is wonderful!
I also have an awesome library offering the same type of services, and more like copying your old VHS on a DVD for instance. I visit at least 3 times a week, but i am fortunate enough to live just 10 mn away on foot!! if you request a book early enough, keeping an eye on the catalog and when they order, you can even get a book on the day it’s released. this is what happened to me for 1Q84 and Colorless Tsukuru! amazing service!! plus so neat also to be able to download ebooks and audiobooks from home. and even now to watch movies or listen to all kinds of music, even to keep a few for you per month! Vive the public library! we are so very fortunate in the US
That sounds great – I am interested in the copying of DVD’s and old VHS service. That sounds interesting!
I love my library system, and opt to drive a bit to go to the main county branch which is large and new and awesome! The last place I lived in didn’t have a library for me, so I just love being back and I go every two weeks for a stack!
I love seeing the kids check out piles of books to read! 😀
The Meridian Library is great. Their Bookville visits my senior retirement home once a week year around. They bring the books inside the building so us who use walkers don’t have as far to go. They bring requested books for us. In addition their e book selection is great. There is are in Spanish books. They will offer programs. I learned to us my Kindle from one of their classes here at the complex. I know there are computers and other electronic devices. There is a large audio library.
I like that a lot! I believe we offer that service as well I will have to check. And audio is fantastic!
I.am have hearing lost so audio is something I don’t use.
My library is now my go-to place for “free”, new-release movies. I’m patient, I can wait a few weeks in the queue.
I always forget about the movies Leslie! I need to check that out!
I love my local library and so glad it is finally open again after someone intentionally started a fire in the sunroom and they closed it and had to rebuild. Thankfully the community center let opened their doors to us so we could still borrow books etc. Along with the things you listed above, our library has Learning Services, Writers’ Corner, Genealogy Resources, Unemployed/Underemployed Help, Homework Help, Infoguides (for activities like hiking) and more. I use my library a lot. Don’t know what I’d do without it. I can also use all the libraries in the county I live in and the connecting counties libraries, but my home library is my favorite. I get a few library books and ebooks a week, and use the Tampa Bay Library Consorium a lot.
Holy cow! A fire???? Sounds like a bad movie! So glad they rebuilt! I am interested in the Writer’s Corner…. what is that about?
I love my local library and am there several times a week. My husband is not a reader but I borrow movies for him to watch. We have all the things you listed plus a great genealogy section. Our library is part of a consortium and can usually someone in the consortium has the book I want. If not inter library loan works great too. The book I have on inter library loan at present came from a neighboring state! I would be lost without my library and like someone else said, I don’t complain at all about that part of my tax bill. The current library building replaced a beautiful old Carnegie Library back in the early 1960’s.
Genealogy is huge in our library as well… I don’t do much with it, but I know it is a big deal 🙂
My local library has been closed for much of the summer while they do repairs for water damage. I didn’t realize how much I loved it, even just to go in and browse, until that wasn’t an option anymore. It just reopened and I couldn’t be happier.
Great testimony Kim. As I am on the city Board I ear about budget cuts and other things that scare me…. I am on a mission to get the word out about all the things that our Libraries provide for our community. I don’t think many people realize all that is offered.
I use my library less than before I began blogging about books but I still get there from time to time. I picked up a reserve just last week (after reserving online – love that). We can borrow everything from books to dvds to framed art! And they have a great book sale twice/year run by the Friends of the Library.
I, too, LOVE libraries, Sheila 😀 Yours sounds amazing and from what you describe, it sounds like it’s a pretty good size building!
Do you have a local library? Yes, I do, and I LOVE it 😀
Do you visit it and if so how often? I’m there at least once a week and sometimes almost every day when I’m ordering lots of books!
Does your family members have library cards? I’m pretty sure my son and daughter-in-law have cards, and my father does. I know my boyfriend and I have cards, too 🙂
Do you know what your library offers besides book check out? I don’t always check out events, and things, unless something’s IN my face 🙂 But yes, I borrow movies and on very rare occasion, audio books but never end up listening to them! *sigh*
Do you think your community would be missing something important (Or is missing something important) if your library was no longer there? Most definitely! My library’s actually gotten much more active over the years and I love seeing kids coming and going, too. It’s very rarely quiet as far as no patrons. And I love chatting it up with my librarians. They do a lot for me, handling all my books and sometimes putting books aside they think I might be interested in. I hate to think of life without libraries!
I don’t browse at the library, but look online and put in requests. Our 28, local branches are small and have the solid basics. Our main branch is huge but I haven’t taken the time to browse around randomly. You may inspire me to do so. My girls have checked out DVDs. I have checked out an audio book. What can be frustrating is damaged copies.
I love my local library. I used to have two — the city library and the county library, but a few years ago they merged. The county library (King County Library System) is one of the biggest and BEST in the country, and I was a little worried that we’d miss the intimacy of our small city library, but so far we see most of the same librarians and I’m a bit relieved that now I only go to one library a week. I use their holds extensively, and I was an early adopted of their ebook loans — I got a NOOK rather than a KINDLE because Amazon took a while to decide to trust libraries.
All my kids got library cards as soon as they could write their names, but somehow we’ve moved into everyone using my card because I’ve memorized my number and have all the library apps on my phone so as soon as they think of something they want I order it up for pickup on library day. I have piles and piles of books at my house, but sometimes I like the urgency of a due date to get me to actually finish something. We also like to check out music and movies, have gone to lectures and classes and music events (GAME ON is a fun day where they hook up a lot of game systems and teens come to play).
And just to make life even better, I ALSO have a Seattle city library card, which is also a great system, so if ever King county lets me down I have a backup. Or I can do ILL, which they are awesome about.
I was doing a Library Quest to read a book from every shelf — I started in the children’s section and went through picture books and easy readers and nonfiction and series and fiction and biographies when they closed my building for renovations so I guess I’m taking a break. That was a fun way to see a lot of stuff I wouldn’t have found otherwise.