Anyone here still use their local public library?

Started by Silence Dogood, May 15, 2022, 08:42:59 AM

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I have believed for a long time that the public library system is one of the things our tax dollars are well-spent on, one of the few things that government actually gets right.  I suppose some might take the library for granted, especially if they grew up using it during their school years, but this was not the case for me.  I didn't start reading books till I was in my early 30s.  When I began my path of self-education, I got my first library card and an amazing adventure began. I'm 47 now and have been reading and listening to great books for many years.  I can honestly say it has changed my life for the better.  

I also make it a point to try and not buy books, but use my public library and other online options for my reading/listening.  Sometimes my yearly reading log will have around 50 books or so (some years more, some less - it mostly depends on how distracted I got by podcasts) and these are almost always books I read/listened to for free.  

When I discovered audiobooks is when things really picked up in my life.  I realized I could use my drive-time, lawn-mowing time, and work-time to enhance my autodidact lifestyle.  I started out with discs: burning them on my computer and then putting them on my old iPod.  I also discovered college courses through the Modern Scholar series where I could learn about anything I wanted by some brilliant professors.  I've studied everything from history to foreign languages through the Modern Scholar series.  You can even send off for an exam when you're done if you want.  The online options now make the old CD format obsolete, but I enjoyed them for many years.    

Other than just checking out physical books, the library system today offers lots of online options for learning and entertainment.  "Hoopla" is a great digital site that you can get connected with via your public library card.  You can access movies, TV shows, music, ebooks and audiobooks, etc.  CloudLibrary is a great app to access via your card also.  You can download audio and ebooks to your mobile device.  Our local library (and many of the surrounding ones) offers concerts and other great events throughout the year.  The big library in downtown Fort Worth even has a movie theater inside where they play classic films during the summer.   This makes for a wonderful family outing.  

With all the online options and apps I don't make it into my library as much as I once did, but sometimes I'll go in there to just look around.  And I still enjoy browsing the music CD bins in hopes of discovering my next favorite band.  

Maybe this thread will inspire you to go to your libarary for the first time in years, or maybe for the first time ever.  
:cheers

[quote author=Silence Dogood link=topic=55265.msg478069#msg478069 date=1652622179 

Maybe this thread will inspire you to go to your libarary for the first time in years, or maybe for the first time ever.  
:cheers
[/quote] I through the years often yo-yo my library usage but since most everything has gone digital and my local library was late to adopt I have found its been awhile since I considered the library. Always appreciate your insight and may inspire me to check out their digital options. Sadly, I have never listened to an audiobook - not ever.
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COVID killed my library usage. Way to go ... whoever!

My wife does. She reserves books online and picks them up in pertain. The place looks like an internet cafe so it amazes me they still house a lot of books.
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Local library here loans out so much more than books: musical instruments and power tools now.

Just today at Barnes and Noble I was reading Robert Pirsig's On Quality, which I liked quite well.  But it was $28.00 (USD) for a short book.  192 pages.  That's roughly 15 cents a page.  In my mind, too much.  So yes, the library to the rescue.  It pained me to buy all my books during the pandemic.  Mostly because a book that begins wonderfully often peters out all too soon, and I regret owning it.

Yes, I love the library.

Quote from: JOYCEfromNS on May 15, 2022, 10:12:15 AM
Always appreciate your insight and may inspire me to check out their digital options. Sadly, I have never listened to an audiobook - not ever.
Thanks for the kind words.  I would encourage you to give audiobooks a try during a drive or some yard work.  It's a very different experience with literature, and it does take time (at least it did for me) to get into it, but once I did it became more enjoyable to me than sitting down with a book.  YMMV.

Quote from: Queequeg on May 15, 2022, 03:33:21 PM
Local library here loans out so much more than books: musical instruments and power tools now.
I noticed a while back that the big library in Fort Worth is now loaning out instruments too.  It strikes me as a great program but those instruments are sure to be in poor shape getting passed around to kids like that.  But who knows: a handful of great players might be born out of the thing.  I hope so!

Just used Hoopla app.  Love libraries!


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Quote from: Strings4Him on May 16, 2022, 10:06:35 AM
Just used Hoopla app.  Love libraries!


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Hoopla is great.  I recently cancelled cable and saved over $150 a month and have been using Hoopla instead.  Lots of BBC stuff on there, which is what we watch a lot of.

It's been years since I've had many must reads that I would go out of my way to pay full price for. I think I bought one new book so far this year and it's preordered and arriving in November. I do my book shopping at Good Will mostly. I can usually find something to read. Love the $0.99 clearance rack! Fortunately, I'm happy these days reading crime thrillers and Good Will usually has a ton of Michael Connelly, Craig Johnson and John Sandford etc. A lot of my favorite writers seem to be running out of steam, however. In the words of Truman Capote, "That's not writing, it's typing!" If I liked Grisham, I'd really be in the high cotton because there's always a dozen of his. Prolific son of a gun.  :laughin:   :beer

Quote from: ducktrapper on May 17, 2022, 12:04:44 PM
It's been years since I've had many must reads that I would go out of my way to pay full price for. I think I bought one new book so far this year and it's preordered and arriving in November. I do my book shopping at Good Will mostly. I can usually find something to read. Love the $0.99 clearance rack! Fortunately, I'm happy these days reading crime thrillers and Good Will usually has a ton of Michael Connelly, Craig Johnson and John Sandford etc. A lot of my favorite writers seem to be running out of steam, however. In the words of Truman Capote, "That's not writing, it's typing!" If I liked Grisham, I'd really be in the high cotton because there's always a dozen of his. Prolific son of a gun.  :laughin:   :beer
Agreed that thrift stores are great for books.  There are a ton of them in my area.  Also, in my area there is a chain-store called Dirt Cheap.  The place is packed with all kinds of stuff.  I can routinely get new books in there for .25 and sometimes .50 or so.   I've made a nice pile re-selling them on Amazon.  They sometimes have CDs and DVDs but it's hit or miss.

Quote from: Silence Dogood on May 17, 2022, 12:39:17 PM
Agreed that thrift stores are great for books.  There are a ton of them in my area.  Also, in my area there is a chain-store called Dirt Cheap.  The place is packed with all kinds of stuff.  I can routinely get new books in there for .25 and sometimes .50 or so.   I've made a nice pile re-selling them on Amazon.  They sometimes have CDs and DVDs but it's hit or miss.

Yeah, I recently bought 3 CDs at the local Good Will and one was an empty case, one had the wrong CD in the case and the last one was okay. Should have checked. It's always a bit of an ordeal trying to go through their musical material.  They do a better job with books at least keeping them in some kind of order and generally they have all their pages.  :laughin:

Quote from: ducktrapper on May 18, 2022, 10:44:39 AM
Yeah, I recently bought 3 CDs at the local Good Will and one was an empty case, one had the wrong CD in the case and the last one was okay. Should have checked. It's always a bit of an ordeal trying to go through their musical material.  They do a better job with books at least keeping them in some kind of order and generally they have all their pages.  :laughin:
Unlike CDs at the Goodwill, you actually CAN judge a book by its cover.

Back before online music took over, one of my favorite things to do was cruise the local used CD shops in my area.  It was so exciting to find something I'd never heard of and take a chance on it, sometimes to find a new favorite.  It's odd but I actually listen to LESS music now than I did back then.   I think the options we have now seem so overwhelming that one doesn't even know where to begin finding new music.   

Another odd thing... I've found bands online in recent years that I'd listen to for a week or so, only to forget about them completely a short time later and have no memory of ever enjoying their music.  This never happened to me back in the day when I had to buy actual CDs. 

Quote from: Silence Dogood on May 21, 2022, 07:49:36 AM
Back before online music took over, one of my favorite things to do was cruise the local used CD shops in my area.  It was so exciting to find something I'd never heard of and take a chance on it, sometimes to find a new favorite.  It's odd but I actually listen to LESS music now than I did back then.   I think the options we have now seem so overwhelming that one doesn't even know where to begin finding new music.   

Another odd thing... I've found bands online in recent years that I'd listen to for a week or so, only to forget about them completely a short time later and have no memory of ever enjoying their music.  This never happened to me back in the day when I had to buy actual CDs. 
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Quote from: JOYCEfromNS on May 21, 2022, 08:40:14 AM
This is me!!!!!!!

So much better to save the price of the CD! It's the death of many musicians making a living, however.  :blush:

I still use our local library, and if not for the actual bound books, the digital service they offer called "Libby" allows you to download books for two weeks at a time. We've run out of bookshelf space at home!
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I'm not sure what it's like in your area, but I live in a big cluster of cities all crammed together with lots of large libraries.  There are many free events like concerts, plays, etc. that get put on throughout the year, particularly in the summer.  I'm going to try and take my family to some of these things this summer.  Just a heads up in case your locals offer such things: they are definitely worth looking into. 

One of the best of these deals is in the big library in downtown Fort Worth.  They have an actual movie theater inside with very comfortable seating.  They play free movies all summer and even offer (for a small price) popcorn. 

Just here to add that it might be worth a look on your library's website for Kanopy, a free streaming site with more "arthouse" type offerings that Hoopla.

Also, I stumbled on the library link for the NYT. Apparently they have an arrangement with public libraryies where they'll offer a free 3 day temporary subscription with unlimited renewal. I'm too cheap to subscribe as I basically scan headlines, but now and then I'll want to get past the paywall.
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