TSS: On the Importance Libraries

On the Importance of Libraries

I started teaching this week and the importance of libraries for those of us who live in quite rural settings was really brought home to me.

My local library is awesome and has been a real lifesaver for me while I’ve been studying. They have a fantastic ILL system that includes both books from the other libraries in the state* and universities around the country. This means that I can sit at home and realise that I need a book for my course, look it up in their catalogue and if it isn’t there, look it up  at LIBRIS, and if it isn’t in my university library**, send off an e-mail to the local library who order it for me. I get it in a week or two depending on the day of the week I order it, usually it is less than a week.

My library is part of the state wide library system which meant that on Monday I could walk into the library in the town I work in (conveniently located in the same building I teach ) and have them add their library to my current card. It means I can now borrow any books I need there, which will make it so much easier for me since my local library isn’t open when I need it to be.

On Tuesday, when I met my students for the first time, two of them sang the library’s praise (warmed my little bibliophile heart it did) without any prompting from me. One of them commented on how good her local library was as a place for her to go and study because if she was at home she just did other stuff. The library allowed her to focus on her studies and she felt it had really made a difference in her learning.

Another student, who is a refugee and is still learning Swedish (as well as the English I am endeavouring to teach her…my students blow my mind), spent her break in the library borrowing books for herself and her children. She got a hardcopy and an audio book of the same book so that she could listen and follow along in the text at the same time. I just wanted to hug her.

So here we have three different women, with three different backgrounds (my two students and I) and for all of us the small, local libraries around here provide an invaluable service. Services that we would find difficult or impossible to get elsewhere.

Libraries rock!

*I use state for ease of understanding, the Swedish word is län and it is slightly different from states.

**My university has a fantastic system for us distance students where they will send us books through the mail when we request them. I can have any book from their catalogue in my mailbox within a day or two of ordering it, all I have to pay is return postage.

Bloggiesta Announcement

Next weekend is Bloggiesta Weekend, YAY!!! My poor blog has suffered in the last few months when I have been very busy and I am hoping to get some much needed maintenance work done. I am also hoping to get some “rainy day” posts written as well as some of my more regular features so that I don’t have to leave the blog quite should things get busy again.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Library Envy

I have a great library, for its size. It doesn’t have a gigantic collection, but it does have dedicated librarians who are always happy to help with inter library loans. I have nothing really to complain about. I should use the library more than I do, my biggest problem is actually access. I don’t have a car and I live outside the village. This means that my mum often ends up picking up my ILLs and returning them for me. But generally I have nothing but praise for my library. However, occasionally I get a BAD case of library envy. Usually when I read about great libraries on book blogs. Libraries that seem to have the latest books in. Libraries that have scores of audiobooks for downloads (mine now does, but only in Swedish). Libraries with vast collections. I get jealous. No bones about it.

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I am also geeky enough that when I am in a city, if it is at all possible I like to check out the town library. Yes I am THAT geeky. Libraries are my happy place. But this can also lead to bad cases of library envy. This was the case a few weeks ago when I took a day trip to Stockholm.

After wandering around Söder (the South side) for a couple of hours, my feet were tired so I hopped on a bus to the main city library. Ho boy! Green eyed monster envy here! Not only is the library gorgeous on the outside

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but it also looks like this on the inside

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“Okay, okay” you say, “the library is PRETTY but a library has to be so much more than pretty! It needs to be functional!”

Well let me tell you, this library is so awesomely functional I don’t know where to begin!

Let’s start with the room in the picture: The rotunda. It doesn’t actually look quite like this anymore. The librarians desks in the middle are much smaller and have been replaced with several short time use computers and self-check out machines. Don’t get me wrong, they haven’t replaced the librarians, I saw several while I was there, but their workspace is smaller.

So to the collection in this room. This room contains mostly fiction in European languages (including Swedish and English).

Off this room (through the door in the middle for example) are smaller rooms that hold, as far as I can see, primarily non-fiction collections along with plenty of study spaces. The collections seem to be quite extensive (I browsed the teaching section and religion sections), I added several books to my virtual TBR pile and cursed the fact that this wasn’t my library so I could borrow them straight away.

There were tonnes of people studying, doing homework etc at the study places and it had a busy but not disturbing feeling to it. I could easily see myself working there on a regular basis.

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Off the rotunda, through a corridor, the children’s and YA library is located. I didn’t spend a great deal of time in that part of the library, but, from what I saw, it was a great space. The first room you come into had children’s books in different languages, which is great in a city like Stockholm where we quite a few recently arrived immigrants. Allowing their children to have access to books in their own language is great. The space also felt very cozy. It was warm and quiet. I really liked it. Looking at their website they also seem to have many activities in the children’s section.

I’ve visited libraries on two continents, in several countries. Libraries never fail to excite me, be they tiny or large, be they in modules, busses or grand buildings. Libraries are my cathedral. The ultimate place for this bookworm to worship. But occasionally I come across a library that seems more than others, that was the case this time. It was just a little bit more.

So my dear readers: Have you ever had a case of library envy? What caused that envy? Was it the service? The catalogue? The location? The way the library worked? What causes the green eyed monster to visit you?

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Weekly Geeks 2010-12: Checking Out Libraries

This weeks Weekly Geek ask about libraries.

National Library Week is coming up in the U.S. April 11-17, and April is School Libraries Month (2010 is the 25th anniversary). This got me wondering about the state of libraries around the globe.

What's your earliest memory of a library? What was it like for you? Were you more likely to hang out in the gym or the library when you were in school?

How's the health of the library system in your community? How do you support your local library? How often do you check out books from the library vs. buying books? Tell us what your favorite library is like and include some photos if you can.

I LOVE libraries. Libraries are my happy place. My local library is very small but so incredibly important to me. It is attached to the grade school (K-9) and growing up I would hang out there during breaks. The librarians would keep our library cards behind the counter (it is the only library in the system) and I was the only kid in the school who didn’t have to tell the librarians my name and class. The librarians have changed since then but they are still incredibly nice and incredibly helpful. They have both bought books that I need for school and do Inter Library Loans for me with just an e-mail. My mum often goes in to pick up the books for me since she works near the library and now they know her too :D

The other library in my life is the University library at my grad school and they are equally helpful. They have a system set up where, as I am a distance student, they send books home to me from their catalogue or they e-mail me articles. The other week I had ordered a book from their catalogue and I got an e-mail to say that it was available to pick up. I called them up and asked that they send it to me in the mail (they had missed the note about me being a distance student) and it got put straight in the mail.

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Several other libraries have been important in my life. My high school library was another safe haven. We spent an awful lot of time there working. It is located in the oldest building at the school and as you can see from the image above it is a beautiful room. One year the school administrators decided that us students should help clean up the school and the grounds. Me and my friends volunteered to do the library. We spent a whole day taking books off shelves and dusting them and putting the books back onto the shelves in the correct place. It was a great place.

The final library that was important to me is this ugly monstrosity:

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This is the main library at the University of Edinburgh. I spent four years haunting the shelves in the Business Studies section, grabbing food in the cafeteria, surfing the web on the computers and just hanging out with friends. I knew the best times to use the photocopier. I knew the quiet spots and the people spotting spots. I loved my time here. It has changed since I was there, just as I left they started renovating it. Want to take a look? Go here.

The final question asks, what library is this?

It is the Library of Congress in Washington DC. I’ve actually been in that room. It is not open to the public but a friend of mine was doing a summer internship for a Congresswoman. My friend managed to talk our way into the main reading room. It was an amazing experience. The room is beautiful and I just wanted to sit down and do research. They were doing restoration work when we were there but it didn’t lessen the impact of the room. It is truly awe inspiring.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North.This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

The Sunday Salon: Library Renovations

What Caught My Fancy This Week

I couldn’t think of anything to write (I thought about the whitewash scandal but I feel like others have articulated my points much better). Then I spent the the afternoon helping my dad dust off and organize our books. I’ve taken some pictures.

Bags of books

Alphabetizing piles

 

 

 

Other places where we keep books

 

 

There are several other places where we have hidden books as well but I don’t have pictorial evidence of them. I will show you the whole library when it is finally finished but we have hit a snag with some of the selves.

Is it possible to have to many books I wonder?

Reading

Madicken by Astrid Lindgren (Swedish)

Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of The Dalai Lama by The Dalai Lama

Reviewed

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I read this for The Classic Circuit but had to abandon it. It just wasn’t my cup of tea. I do know others liked it and her other books so head over to The Classic Circuit to take a look at the other reviews.

 

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson. I liked this one the best of the Millennium Trilogy. I wish he had lived enough to write the whole series (and have it edited).

Challenges

I wasn’t going to sign up for any more challenges but then the POC challenge was announced and I felt that I needed to sign up for it.

Fun Stuff

As usual in January many of us are trying to change our lives. Something that changed my life was joining the website Spark People in March last year. I still have some ways to go but it really has helped me change my life for the better. They have just released a book (which is why I am mentioning it here) and right now you can download a free chapter here.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North.This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Closing of Philadelphia Libraries

This was never supposed to be a political blog. I do that in other places. This was supposed to be a blog about reading and books and learning. Unfortunately these two worlds have crashed together in the most awful way in my American home town. Due to budget issues (and I do not and will not get into why or how or who is to blame for it) there is a chance, a BIG chance, that the Philadelphia Free Library system will have to close down come October 2nd. This would be devastating to a large portion of the community for whom the library is a life line. I know this because during the last few years of my grandmothers life the Chestnut Hill branch was where she got the books that we firmly believe kept her going for many more years than she should have. This woman read at least a book a day. At least. She was the indisputable heart of the family and from whom we have all inherited our love of books. The library kept her alive and for it to close would be a tragedy of epic proportions (sorry getting emotional here). The library has always been my refuge. It was the place where I felt safe. To take that possibility away from the children of Philadelphia (many who have no other safe place to go in the afternoons) would be offensive and inhumane. I don't want money to be taken from any of the other vital services in Philadelphia (the courts would loose all their funding under the so called Plan C alternative, there would be cuts to the police and fire service). I want them to come up with a workable solution that keeps the libraries open and provides for vital services to the citizens of Philadelphia.

If you live in the Philadelphia area here is some information on how to progress.