Library – Love or Loathe?

[Gold Star]

...I just love walking into a library though just knowing that I could have any of those books for free and read until my heart's content! I envy those girls that work there that actually get paid to read all day!

Ah, I bet every librarian in the world wishes that were true!!

On a sad note, while the world mourns the tragic loss of life on 9/11, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were also home to twenty-one libraries which were destroyed including the Journal of Commerce.

Lost forever are letters written by Helen Keller and forty-thousand photographic negatives of John F. Kennedy taken by the president's personal cameraman, sculptures by Alexander Calder and Auguste Rodin plus the 1921 agreement which created the agency that built the World Trade Center and tens of thousands of records, irreplaceable archives, historical documents and art works.

Two weeks after the attacks, archivists and librarians gathered at New York University to discuss how to document what was lost, forming the World Trade Center Documentation Task Force.

If you are interesting in reading more from Cristian Salazar of Associated Press (e.g. the CIA had a clandestine office on the 25th floor).

That is sad. I'd never heard anything about it before.

I love libraries, and don't have money or space for more of my own really.

I took the 5 yo nephew to his favorite library and decided not to risk paying for a lost book, so as we left I let him buy one from the used book corner for 25 cents. The librarian thanked him for helping the library. He showed that book to all his friends and had us reread it constantly. I'll always remember the moment when I told him it was his and he didn't have to return it.

[Maud Fitch]

I love libraries, and don't have money or space for more of my own really.

I took the 5 yo nephew to his favorite library and decided not to risk paying for a lost book, so as we left I let him buy one from the used book corner for 25 cents. The librarian thanked him for helping the library. He showed that book to all his friends and had us reread it constantly. I'll always remember the moment when I told him it was his and he didn't have to return it.

That's a lovely story, Gold Star. It would give anyone who has similar childhood memories that warm feeling of first ownership. I can remember the librarian reading aloud Little Golden Books then the first time I borrowed from our local library without my mother. So grown up!

What do you borrow? Books, CDs, Magazines?

[Julie1014]

What a great topic! My tastes have changed as I have aged. In my teens and 20's, I was always at the library, reading there, and borrowing books. (I miss the card catalog index cards, lol!) In my 30's, I wanted to start establishing my own "library" of books, so most of my books were purchased.

Last year, when I turned 40, I purchased a Nook. I love it! However, after using it for a year, I found that I missed the look, feel, smell of a book. (I know that might sound corny, lol!)

So,the past two months, I have improvised and compromised. I now read my Nook, and buy used books at the library. It's the best of both worlds!

[Maud Fitch]

So,the past two months, I have improvised and compromised. I now read my Nook, and buy used books at the library. It's the best of both worlds!

It sounds like the perfect situation to me.

I read about a NSW library (across the border from my State) where they hold F.O.O.D. Week. It stands for Food Of Orange District and there's an annual event entitled "Books On The Menu" which invites more than 70 guests. There are discussions about wine and fresh produce, food stories, recipes, cookbooks and anecdotes from local foodies. Apparently the crowd asks questions, enjoys local wines and delicious local produce created into meals by the Librarian Masterchefs. It sounds like great fun and, of course, new cookbooks recently acquired by the library are available for loan.

I wonder if other public libraries do this?

[Gannon]

So,the past two months, I have improvised and compromised. I now read my Nook, and buy used books at the library. It's the best of both worlds!

It sounds like the perfect situation to me.

I read about a NSW library (across the border from my State) where they hold F.O.O.D. Week. It stands for Food Of Orange District and there's an annual event entitled "Books On The Menu" which invites more than 70 guests. There are discussions about wine and fresh produce, food stories, recipes, cookbooks and anecdotes from local foodies. Apparently the crowd asks questions, enjoys local wines and delicious local produce created into meals by the Librarian Masterchefs. It sounds like great fun and, of course, new cookbooks recently acquired by the library are available for loan.

I wonder if other public libraries do this?

Maud Maud Maud you never cease to amaze me with all the "Stuff" you know and come up with. It does sound like a great event and a wonderful idea. Hopefully ideas and events like this will be copied and may just save some of our dwindling libraries.

[Teesie]

I usually just borrow books from the library instead of spending extra money. When I do buy books, it's usually at the semi-anuall library book sales. Hardback - $1 paperback - $0.50 They're used but they read just as good as a new one. I rarely ever buy books new.

[Julie1014]

I usually just borrow books from the library instead of spending extra money. When I do buy books, it's usually at the semi-anuall library book sales. Hardback - $1 paperback - $0.50 They're used but they read just as good as a new one. I rarely ever buy books new.

My library is the same. $1 for hardcover and 50 cents for paperback. It is such a great deal.

[Bergamot]

I love a library it's just like an aladdin's cave, you never know what you may discover. I also buy books, but usually just the one for holidays, (the rest I buy on my kindle, so much easier for travelling especially).

[Maud Fitch]

I usually just borrow books from the library instead of spending extra money. When I do buy books, it's usually at the semi-anuall library book sales. Hardback - $1 paperback - $0.50 They're used but they read just as good as a new one. I rarely ever buy books new.

My library is the same. $1 for hardcover and 50 cents for paperback. It is such a great deal.

Your comments interested me because I don't ever remember my library selling second-hand books. My investigations unearthed the fact that Cystic Fibrosis Queensland (a charity which develops national CF education programs) has two book shops which sell all the ex-library books from 33 public libraries in my city. Prices are hardbacks or paperbacks, large or small $3.50 each or 7 books for $20.00 which is good compared to the price of a new book here.

I love a library it's just like an aladdin's cave, you never know what you may discover.

What a great description!

[Bighuey]

Once a year the Salt Lake library had a book sale, I went there once and got about 30 of them, I think they were like 50 cents to a dollar. Some were really old, probably worth more than that now.

[Maud Fitch]

Summertime is coming and at my nearest public library last year the RSPCA team delivered a fantastic wildlife session for the children’s Summer Library Program. Wildlife Crusaders, a fun and interactive holiday workshop, demonstrated how we can live in harmony with animals. Through story-telling, the youngsters explored the needs of local wildlife and discovered how their actions impact on the environment and the animals who rely on us to survive. There was a Koala and some very cute and cuddly animals.

It was run in a number of libraries throughout my city and everyone is hoping our local library repeats it this summer. Live action has to be better than kids staring at a screen all day!

-- Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:50 am --

Summertime is coming and at my nearest public library last year the RSPCA team delivered a fantastic wildlife session for the children’s Summer Library Program. Wildlife Crusaders, a fun and interactive holiday workshop, demonstrated how we can live in harmony with animals. Through story-telling, the youngsters explored the needs of local wildlife and discovered how their actions impact on the environment and the animals who rely on us to survive. There was a Koala and some very cute and cuddly animals.

It was run in a number of libraries throughout my city and everyone is hoping our local library repeats it this summer. Live action has to be better than kids staring at a screen all day!

Tip: If you are interested in architecture, type "the most beautiful libraries in the world" into Google and be amazed!

[love_aud]

I love the smell of the library and going to the library always makes me feel right at home, but I love having my own copies of books, then I don't have to really be very careful with the books, because somehow I always seem to ruin them.

[Ant]

I love the smell of the library and going to the library always makes me feel right at home, but I love having my own copies of books, then I don't have to really be very careful with the books, because somehow I always seem to ruin them.

I am thinking of opening a sanctuary for abused and battered books, please do not hesitate to send them to me, I will look after them.

[RuqeeD]

Tip: If you are interested in architecture, type "the most beautiful libraries in the world" into Google and be amazed!

Ahh some of them are just gorgeous! I love the more old-fashioned ones with the wooden benches and the mahogany bookshelves. I feel like I step back in time when I visit a library like that.

[love_aud]

I love the smell of the library and going to the library always makes me feel right at home, but I love having my own copies of books, then I don't have to really be very careful with the books, because somehow I always seem to ruin them.

I am thinking of opening a sanctuary for abused and battered books, please do not hesitate to send them to me, I will look after them.

I love going into used book stores and buying the books that look the worst/oldest, I love the look of older books!