Today all the branches of my local library celebrated its 50th anniversary. We missed the party, thanks to basketball practice and dinner. So I thought I’d write down a few things I love about the library – you know, the virtual version of presenting it with a pretty cupcake and tossing some confetti in the air?!
5 Reasons I Love My Library
1. Its 36 branches around the city mean lots and lots of books! If the branch by my house doesn’t have what I’m looking for, I can simply request it from another one.
2. And I can do that requesting online. I can also pay my fines online. I mean, hypothetically, if I were the type of person to keep books way past their due dates…
3. Programs!! Mid-Continent has TONS of programs – for kids, teens, adults and families. I get a copy of its event catalog every season as soon as it’s out – and mark it up like a Sears holiday catalog.
(Dear youngsters: Back in the day, children used to make their wish lists by circling all the Easy Bake Ovens and stonewashed jeans Sears & Roebuck had to offer. Yes, on paper. Like pioneers.)
ANYWAY. From storytime and puppet shows to concerts and lectures to classes about genealogy, taxes or English as a second language, the library offers so many free, quality programs for the community. It’s the first place I look for something fun to do with the girls during the summer (or any season, really!).
4. A while ago I read a really interesting book about libraries. (I know…so many responses you could make here…) It focused on the struggle a lot of libraries have to integrate technology into their old systems and, in some cases, old culture. But my library uses all the interwebs! It tweets and instagrams and hashtags (oh my), and it does it all with a sense of fun and more humor than you might expect. Whoever’s in charge of the Mid-Continent social media accounts is having a good time, and I like it.
5. Last but certainly not least, I love the library because it gave me my first job, some great friends in my co-workers, and – believe it or not – lots of fun memories. And, unlike some of my other past jobs, I left still loving the place and go back to visit (albeit a different branch) on a frequent basis.
Before we get into Works for Me Wednesday, tell me about your public library. Do you love your library?
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Thanks for the linkup today, Mary.
Blessings to you
Yes, yes, yes: we LOVE our local library. Favorite feature: online requests. We have two branches–the “big” library downtown (where my 3-year-old once took an unauthorized trip the the first floor bathroom by herself while I was on the second floor and summarily also took 10 years off my life) and the “little library,” which is about 10 minutes from our house and looks like a rustic lodge. (Also, the entire thing is one floor, thus making wayward toddlers easily visible.) When I read about a book I want, I just hop online, make the request, have it sent to “the little library,” and wait for the phone call informing me that my book is in. Love. It. Thanks for this post and for hosting WFMW!
Oh my, I’m so charmed by just the thought of your little rustic lodge library!!
My first job was at the library, too! And I’ve written a post on loving the library, also! I guess we really do have a connection with the place, huh?
Something about the library must have gotten in our systems, for sure!
We love our library, too! So many great kids programs available, and i love being able to request books online, like you said.
Libraries definitely work for me!
Yay! (Our library upped their awesomeness even more a couple years ago when they installed a self checkout system, too. So I can request books online, go pick them up and check them out myself without ever talking to a soul. Not that I’m anti-social. But sometimes…!) :)
I love my local library! Squirrel Hill branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Last time I was there, I rolled my 18-month-old in her stroller through a quick perusal of the New section and picked up a book about the architect Henry Hornbostel, the kind of big glossy book I’d never buy because too expensive and takes up too much space. I carried it back to the Children’s section and let Lydia roam among the picture books and play with the puppets and the wooden trains while I enjoyed the book. :-)
Children’s sections with toys are THE BEST. :)
I do love my local library, but honestly haven’t visited it in a while–since my kiddos were in high school, I guess, which was a couple of years ago. I am spoiled though by the county libraries of my past. We lived in St. Charles County, Missouri years ago, Mary, and their library systems blew our Illinois library systems out of the water! Of course, living in Illinois (a broke state!) makes that painfully obvious as to why it’s so much better there than here, but it’s still tinged my attitude just a bit. I know you live on the other side of Missouri, so I’m guessing that the library system over there is similar to what I was “spoiled” by. ;) Thanks for encouraging us to utilize and value our local libraries! Oh, and thanks for the books I won in your giveaway! They came to my door and I was delighted!
Ooooh, that’s a good reminder to be thankful for such a great library system. Since I’ve lived in this area most my life, I forget that not every reader is so fortunate!