Do you like libraries? What's your town's like?

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001

Answers

the library the i call my own requires a bit of lightrail travel, but its four stories of luscious literature (well, minus a couple dozen shelves of skanky scifi and raunchy romance) are worth it. one can also borrow dvds and compact discs in addition to the normal videos and cassettes. there exists a multitude of features in the san jose, california, library- too many to name. invent something cool and it's already there. dream the dream of a bibliophile and you have MARTIN LUTHER KING LIBRARY. thank you, sir mlk, brudaman. plus, the architecture is different (boring buildings are bad) and it has really fast escalators. wanna visit me?

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001

My library is yummy, 4 stories in two buildings connected by one of those skywalk thingys, with lots and lots of sections and little hidden area's, has a floor devoted to videos, dvd's, cd's etc, one building has a computer center with internet connections and kickass printers, there's alot of computers around to search for things, hm, there's a snack bar in one building (a snack area! in a Library!! yay!) oh and a magazine and newspaper area with every possible thing you could want. My dream? to be locked in there for a week.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001

My library now feels completely inferior. It's one single story. A bunch of books [never the one you need] and a cramped parking lot. I want four stories and a snack bar... Well, there is a playground next to it... so there! :P

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001

Annette — Where do you live?! I want a library like that... My library (actually, all of the libraries around here are like that) are like Stef's: one-story building, unnecessary books (well, they're not the ones you're looking for), stupid librarians... ARGH! I want Annette's library! :(

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2001

Well, I live in Ky..but I go to the Cincinnati library its only like 20 mins away, I call it my library. The ones right in my town are like yours..one story, sucky books. blah.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

The library at my college rocks: seven stories tall, and each floor just seems to go on forever. Shelves upon shelves of books. You can get lost easily. Or, rather, I can get lost easily, and I'm a total library geek. I love to just walk around the stacks, looking at the book titles and feeling completely alone.

The libraries in my hometown... those are a different story. There's the one I've been going to since I was little; it's starting to look really run down, and it caters to the Hispanics that have moved in to the area lately. I find more books in Spanish than in English now, practically. Every time I go, the literature section looks smaller and smaller.

Then there's the new library. It's right up by Country Club of the South, so there's always a parking lot full of fancy SUVs out front. All the books have that lovely new-book smell, but it's rough going there and hanging with all the soccer moms.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

The library here is nice, but the ladies who work in it are snobby.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

While I'm flooding all these boards with worthless answers, here's an amusing anecdote.
Anyone heard of Regent University? Anyone? Anyone?
Well, to fill you in. You know that show no one watches, yeah, the 700 Club. Well Pat Roberston like runs Regent, its a big christian university down here. Nothing against persecuting my own people (did I mention I'm a Southern Baptist....DON'T START, I'm not as gung-ho as the Burrito eating-catholic slammer) but its one thing to pretty much do everything but "scrump" in the elevator, copy room and reference section of the Regent University Library.

Coverage you didn't see on the 700 Club


-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

I liked libraries a lot more when I didn't work in one...

As a Hamptonite (Hamptonian?) I am absolutely in love with our main library (Katie described it a few days ago). Compared to some libraries I've been in, that place is Mecca.

Of course, the one I work in is pretty nifty, too... Big enough for a 200,000 volume collection and it's less than a third full. Nice and roomy; lots of comfy chairs... Too bad I don't use it more, what with being stuck in the back office all the time. (Although I must say my computer here at work is so choice...)

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

Oh, Jason, you brought up Regent U. ... Little joke here: Some of us (okay, me) refer to that whole little set-up down there (Regent, CBN, the Founders Inn) as the "God Complex." :)

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

I live in a city, so the library's pretty great...recently, when I began covering a smaller town for the newspaper, I started to dig their library too, though. Even though it's small, it has this nice, bookish, homey atmosphere which I think is great.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

I love love love libraries! I live in a small town (15,000 people), so our library pretty much sucks. Oh, sure, you can find plenty of reference material, but if you're looking for new books, it's almost guaranteed that you won't be able to find it.

Fortunately, I live only about 10 minutes from a much larger city and their library is way better. It has two stories, although the upper story is only for local history/genealogy, etc. Everything is on computer, there are at least 10 computers with internet access.

All in all, I'm happy with the libraries around here.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

The University of Guelph Library is a great place to pick up. You have seven seperate floors of seven different types of guy majors. It's wonderful.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

I love libraries. However, when I check out books from my local library, I usually return the books late and rack up huge fines. I know, I know, it doesn't seem like would be that difficult to return the books on time, but those two weeks go so fast.

So I currently have an Amazon and Barnes and Noble addiction instead.

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2001

I'm not a big library fan. I dunno...of course, I work in a bookstore, and I get check out rights there, to any book in the store, like all the new stuff that won't be available in the library for a year or so...plus a nice employee discount...nah, no libraries for me at the moment....

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2001

I still prefer to buy books than just borrow them, but hey, it's cheaper that way, so yes, I love libraries. Unfortunately, I've had a hugely library-deprived existence. The one in my old town is tiny and full of bumph (well, there were some good young adult novels, but I've read them all) and never ever open. It would be open between 1 and 3 on Tuesday and 10 and 12 on Thursday, or something equally ridiculous. Now, I have a huge four-storey university library at my disposal . . . but there's nothing but boring textbooks in it! Grr, why did I leave Cambridge (UK) (the library there contains every book ever written, but I never had the chance to go). The best libraries I got to go to were in Portland, Oregon, but I was only there for three weeks, and was supposed to be on holiday rather than reading all the time. Grr again.

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2001

I live in Portland, OR and the main branch of the library, located downtown, is pretty rad. A gorgeous building with three huge stories and enough reading material to boggle the mind, as well as additions like internet rooms, CD's, DVD's, brand new books, etc. ... oh, and there's a Starbuck's in the Fiction section, but considering there's also five others within a maybe ten block radius, I find that fact pretty disgusting.

All in all though, I feel blessed with my library ... if I could just pay off my overdue fines.

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2001

I absolutely love libraries!! Unfortunately, the one in my town is like 1.5 rooms with the entire adult section being the size of a normal library's one wall. But I just discovered something that made me almost wet myself. My library, along with 9 other libraries in the county are online where I can look up a book, type in my library card number, get the book delivered to my local library and they will call me when it was there. Found this out this morning and ordered like 9 books. Oh heaven!

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2001

I, too, just discovered that you can reserve books through my library's web site and get an email telling you when the book comes in. Love it, love it, love it! I've been keeping a list of books I want to read for quite a few months, but never seem to have it when I'm physically at the library. Now, I've finally started reading what's on my list since I can "order" them, so to speak, online. Whee!

Also, all the libraries in the county I live in recently merged to form one big system, so you can check out and return books to any branch.

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

I think the library in my town is quite pretty. It's a nice, spacious enough two story building.

However, the atmosphere, no matter how comfortable, doesn't make up for the crappy pickings. If I see one more bestseller, I will explode. Where's the real literature? Keroauc, Anais Nin, Rainer Marie Rilke...stuff that I consider important to my personal intellectual growth is completely discounted by whoever makes the decisions.

I should probably stop griping about it on this message board and actually request that a change be made. :)

-- Anonymous, June 10, 2001

My library sucks, in comparision. It's tiny, the computer system is a joke, and the staff are nasty. They full-on insult you, and if you dare to argue...well, I actually thought twice before I went back.

Oh, for a four story library, with a coffee cafe and interesting books...uh...I need to be alone now...

-- Anonymous, June 11, 2001

My library sucks. It looks like a slaughter house from the outside, and is tiny. They never have what I want, and when I do check some books out, the bitchy check out girl asks if I can read them all before the due date. Bitch, I'm a freaking college graduate! AARRRGGHHH!! And I have to go back today and return them. All read, a week before they are do. Stick that in your ear check out girl!

-- Anonymous, June 11, 2001

Okay.. so I went to my library today.. and it wasn't open!! 11 am on Monday morning!!! That pissed me off!!!

-- Anonymous, June 11, 2001

I work in a smaller library; we've got something like ten just in this area. It's great having all this stuff around. Mmm. Library.

-- Anonymous, June 17, 2001

i was mostly interested in other people's answers to this thread. i work in a library in D/FW, TX... i'm nineteen and just figuring out that i will head in the direction of getting a masters of library science. one of the reasons i like what i do is that most of the general public don't like the people servicing them at their library. from what i've seen, there is a pretty good generation coming up that might knock the old, stuffy, snobby ladies out of their chairs. anyone who needs a job, start working at your local library if you can... there's little to no stress, a perfect environment for booklovers, and the new generation of librarians needs to grow immensly.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001