Judy would be proud

[Debbie J]

Of me! I went to the library yesterday for the first time in years! It had been so long that I needed to get a new library card. It's a pretty cool place......I always knew that but needed a reminder. I checked out a couple books about book binding and they have a room in the back FULL of free books. I took 2 of the books to use in my next journaling projects. They are the perfect size and now I won't need to search for book board. While I was checking out there girl next to me was checking out movies, didn't even know they HAD movies. Then they had a lot of books on audio, so the next time I go I am checking out those 2 things too.

[Trixie]

Woohoo! I am proud. Getting you through the door is the hardest part. Now we gotcha!

Yes, we have some videos left and lots of DVDs. We have some books on cassettes left, but also books on cd and preloaded books on MP3 players. Most libraries also offer downloadable ebooks and eaudiobooks for free. Right now we are almost the only source for tax forms and have volunteers who will do your taxes for free. We offer all sorts of databases that you can access from home - legal forms, Chiltons, encyclopedias, magazine articles, resume writers, practice tests of all sorts. We have so much. We just are miserable failures at advertising!

Commercial over. Return to your original program.

Judy

PS. If you want a particular book (title or subject) or movie ask if we will order it. We do that ALL the time. We are here for the patrons so we want to get you what you want. A lot of people don't ask because they don't want to bother us. It is no bother. I just ordered almost $700 of PBS DVDs last week that were patron requests.

[clamscrapper]

Yay, Deb! Now you are hooked. I love the library and go often. Great books and resources. Great commercial, Judy. But now I have discovered ebooks and am reading more than ever. It is so easy to checkout books from the comfort of your couch. Reading the ebook is so much easier on my eyes too. I've also checked out the audio books. It's still using the library and it's free.

I've also gotten free books for altering from the library. The library at the beach has had some for free but i need to check our local library. I always forget to ask. Oh yeh, if it's a good book then I read it first.

Judy, do you know if other libraries than your local ones offer library cards? I know here you have to be a resident to get a card, or at least that was true when I got one. I've had it so many years I don't even remember when I got it. Of course I'm thinking along the lines of ebooks. Just wondering.

[jfugina]

Local libraries are fantastic. I need to get Jake his own library card. Nicole's had one since she was about 5, I think. The kids LOVE the library. It took a while for each of them to really get the fact that we were only borrowing books, and that we had to return them. They would get sad when it was time to return things. But we've been getting books, movies, and even video games for years. We occasionally get books on CD before long road trips. My absolute favorite thing is that you can go online and search for titles across all branches, and then place a reserve and have it delivered to your branch. I recently requested 7 books on greek culture from the juvenile section (for a girl scout World Thinking Day project). The books were scattered across about 4 branches, and within 2 days, I had received an e-mail for each one indicating that they were waiting for me at my branch. It's glorious.

Every so often I'll hear something about a threat of the library having to close due to lack of funding, and it freaks me out. There are lots of things that are funded from tax money that I don't believe should be, but the library is an absolute education necessity. If they lost funding, it would be devastating.

If they had a "membership" program that they could charge for, we'd do it in a heartbeat. We have lots of museums in St. Louis, for example, that are publicly funded, but offer memberships to help with funding also. Then members get certain perks. Our zoo, science center, and museums, for example, are free. But certain special exhibits aren't, unless you're a member. We have memberships to the zoo, the science center, the art museum, the history museum, the botanical garden, and the local NPR station. We do this because we think they're valuable educational resources, and want to help make sure they're funded even if they lose the tax support. We'd do the same with the library if they had such a program.

Anyway, welcome to the wonderful world of the public library Deb! It's one of the greatest public resources that exists!

[clamscrapper]

Julie, we have branches all across the county. We have a great library system. About two years ago they threatened to close our closest and actually one of the largest of the county branches. There was such an uproar that they did not close it. I was so glad that the public spoke out and saved the branch. I couldn't imagine not having access to it.

I'm so glad your kids use the library. I keep encouraging my daughter to take her kids more often. I remember when I was young spending hours and hours at the library. My best friend and I would go and curl up with a book in those great big comfy chairs. It was so much fun and a great way to spend an afternoon, especially when it when was cold.

[jfugina]

We just have a county library, which has large number of branches. I believe the St. Charles County library also has a reciprocal relationship with St. Louis County, but I've never needed to use that - we've always found what we needed within our own county system. To my knowledge, we don't have any branch that's part of a national system, but I might have to check further. If I'm wrong, then I'd love to have a new branch to explore!

The kids areas of our libraries are great. They have a little house that the kids love to hide in and read. And there's a whole living room type area with mini couches and tables and chairs. I find it really impressive. I can generally just let the kids go while I browse the adult stacks. I only have to intervene when I hear their voices get too loud.

[Trixie]

My cup runneth over. Such wonderful words and people who appreciate what we do.

Yes, library funding is down all across the country. Every year they want us to do more with less. My county has a library levy and it always passes with more than 79%. Thank you for supporting your local libraries. There are grants but no one wants to pay for the glamour stuff like utilities and salaries.

Yes, other places will give you a card. We will, but you have to apply in person with ID. Then we give you a card for free. The Free Library of Philadelphia will let you fill out a form on their website and mail it in with a check for $35 (per year). That gives you access to all their online resources including their ebooks. Ebooks are what most people are looking for that don't live locally.

Any other questions?

Judy

[clamscrapper]

Thanks Judy. Based on that info, Think I'll just stick with mine and the one at the beach for now. I really need to go ahead and get a card from them and investigate if they have ebooks. Oh I just realized while writing this that there are actually two at the beach. One is city owned and the other is county owned. I had actually forgot about the county one since I always go to the city one. yay, more options. Since I own property there, I can join both. Double Yay!

The city owned one is the one I always went to as a kid. It was within walking distance. It was privately owned until a few years ago when the endowment finally ran out. They were going to be forced to close it but again it was popular that they were able to convince the town to take it over. I'm so glad! It still has that wonderful old feeling and brings back so many memories every time I walk in the door.

[mpizzazz]

We just have a county library, which has large number of branches. I believe the St. Charles County library also has a reciprocal relationship with St. Louis County, but I've never needed to use that - we've always found what we needed within our own county system. To my knowledge, we don't have any branch that's part of a national system, but I might have to check further. If I'm wrong, then I'd love to have a new branch to explore!

The kids areas of our libraries are great. They have a little house that the kids love to hide in and read. And there's a whole living room type area with mini couches and tables and chairs. I find it really impressive. I can generally just let the kids go while I browse the adult stacks. I only have to intervene when I hear their voices get too loud.

Julie and Everyone, See if your library has a "Friends of the Library" group. That is a way to support the library monetarily each year. They support many programs, run the book sales and other fundraisers and do lots of stuff I forget.

[Monica]

Libraries have been my favorite places since I first learned to read. In grade school, I was one of the only kids with parental permission to check out more than the 1 book a week we were normally allowed to check out, and I loved to browse through the stacks in search of new books. I read my way through the majority of each school library as we moved around and I discovered new ones. My favorite public library was the one in Palmer, Alaska... not only did they have all the Nancy Drews, but I discovered Cherry Ames, Judy Bolton, Trixie Beldon, the Happy Hollisters, the 3 Investigators.... and many more. Someone at that library knew exactly what to stock!

Yakima has a regional library system, with many branches. I've been a card-carrying member since we moved here! The closest library to me is the one in Selah, about 1/2 a block from City Hall. Our head librarian knows me well, brings me books I reserve sometimes, and special-orders me things he thinks I will enjoy. As I slowly convert our DVDs (and a few VHS) over to Blu-ray, I donate my DVDs to the library and specify that they stay at my branch.

And Marianne is right about the Friend of the Library; they are a wonderful resource for donations and helping your libraries. I'm not a member of mine, but that's more a time constraint on my part than any thing else. I try to attend very event and book sale they have, and I donate used books to them for their sales.

LIbrarians are some of my favorite people! (aside from you all )

[clamscrapper]

Monica, I loved Trixie Beldon. I still have some of the books and shared them with my DGD.

[troublesmom]

I am sorry to say I haven't been to my library in quite some time. I do use the genealogy resource online a fair amount. Haven't done much reading. I do need to get back there.

[Trixie]

I loved Trixie Belden, Cherry Ames, and the Happy Hollisters. Also, All of a Kind Family and the Borrowers. I have snagged several of them over the years from book sales.

Judy

[jmp1022]

I love Happy Hollisters too
Also Bobsie Twins
Boxcar Kids
My kids had so many books and so do my grandkids.
they win points at school for reading and always have one with them.
Now when they travel, they have a book on their ipads.