Diana is a bit of a book nerd, so she was anxious to check out the library here in Brunswick. I was curious too because it has been renovated without me even realizing it. I never really go anywhere in town because there isn't shit here worth going to usually. I'm a mile away from the main road off the freeway, and the freeway is a quarter mile from there. Even the grocery store is at that intersection.
But they recently opened a new Winking Lizard further into town, and when we went the first time I noticed that the library had nearly doubled in size. We went today, and Diana was thrilled that her prior card from the Cleveland system was gladly accepted.
It was very nice, and a lot different than I remember. The last time I went to a library was college, and the last time I went to that library was high school, circa 1990 I think. Things sure have changed.
They didn't loan DVD's last time I was there. Come to think of it, DVD's didn't exist last time I was there. They had Wi-Fi, and a ton of computers. Self-checkout lets you scan the book and turn off the RFID tags in the spines. The building has a lot of environmental features too, like bamboo flooring and fluorescent lights.
The place was busy, but generally pretty quiet. Except for the asshole with his phone ringer on high who then answered his phone in a tone loud enough to annoy everyone (yet another thing they didn't have to worry about in 1990).
I guess in the Internet age I just assumed that the library was a dying thing, but it's certainly not the case. I shouldn't be that surprised, as I should know books are still used (seeing as how I wrote one). Heck, I've got a stack of three tech books sitting in front of me right now.
I might not run out and get a library card, but there's a nice quiet place for an alternative place to work.
Okay first off, I'm glad you did this follow-up entry because I knew that you wouldn't go to a library, that it had to be Diana's influence haha :). This makes me feel better about myself, because I was severely questioning my Jeff-intuition.
And second, you are strange to think that they were dying. I go to the library every week, sometimes two times a week, to take out books. It's awesome! There are sooo many to choose from and it's free! If you read the first chapter of a book and don't like it, no loss right?
I never read for pleasure much in College, but now that I'm mostly alone here I enjoy reading and stimulating my mind and learning stuff, too.
YAY LIBRARIES!
Some libraries provide you access to books online. My local library system has the O'Reilly Safari books online.
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That's what this post reminded me of.