I've been ordering books at the library of late -- trying to turn the tide of bought books that threaten to take over every corner and surface of my house. Despite the purchase of a Kindle a few years ago and a subsequent rigorous discipline of only buying hardbacks of writers that I just know I will want to hold in my hands and smell and caress, the piles grow, they topple, they gather dust. The Central Library in downtown Los Angeles has an incredible database and now I can visit my podunk local library, (the one with the shopping carts and homeless folks outside and an empty public pool, scrawled with graffiti and dusted over by baseball dirt,) order any book off of the ancient computers and have it sent to me for pick-up within a few days. Yesterday, I picked up Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking and More Home Cooking, two books I read so many years ago, that I know I lent out and never got back but I had a hankering for good writing and recipes, so I picked them up and checked them out and walked down the hill to watch Henry's baseball game, their crinkly jackets pressed to my white shirt, provoking a few chiding laughs from Those Who Don't Visit Libraries.
The Library from Sergey Stefanovich on Vimeo.
i love the "crinkly jackets" too... and the idea of a "greenhouse" of books blooming :)
ReplyDeletelove the video... i've heard that before, from writers - that they write first by hand before they put it on the computer. that the process of writing by hand brings more life to the words.
"open a book and you're opening a door...they are an expression of freedom." lovely.
I LOVE the public library - you probably know that both of our children volunteered there - and I think it's one of the greatest gifts that we have. For a reading-addict like me, it can be a real help, financially.
ReplyDeleteOur library has regular sales of back-issues of magazines ($0.25) and used books, which people donate (price is usually $0.50 - $1.50). After reading, we can donate them again to the library, if the books/magazines aren't "keepers."
So glad that you are enjoying your local library - you are also setting a wonderful example in your home and community.
we have three overdue books from the library sitting on our bookshelf lol
ReplyDeleteI completely understand - my tide of books is actually more on the scale of a tsunami. The other day I had to draw the line at stacking books in my bathtub. The fact that I actually considered it frightens me.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have always been a regular patron of the local library. Love that I can request a book on-line and have it conveniently delivered to my local branch. if I wasn't such a fan of marginalia I would probably read even more library books than I already do.
I love my library. I stopped going to the library when Barnes & Noble became my second home, but the need to save some cash brought me back. It's saved me hundreds of dollars, but even better, I've picked up books that I would have never found at the bookstore.
ReplyDeleteI say an silent thank you every time I walk through the doors.
The thought of a shuttered library kills me.
I'm genuinely surprised. The one thing I really, really envy about the US are the fantastic public libraries, and their interloan programs - libraries filled with people of all ages and backgrounds, and most of them with baskets full of books to check out. So, I'm surprised that there are People Who Don't VIsit Libraries.
ReplyDeleteI love books. I love reading. I love libraries. I love bookstores. I love second-hand bookstores. I also love snooping in other people's bookshelves so you need to take pictures closer to your bookshelves so I can snoop! :-P
ReplyDeleteThe library is where I get most of my books. I even buy books there, sometimes, in the shop where they sell old ones. I don't know what I'd do without the library. To me, it is the temple of civilization.
ReplyDeletethanks for your enthusiasm of constance's lovely mermaid!
ReplyDeletefrom the first stunning moment i saw it, i thought of sophie!
how could i not?
Our dear Library is a jewel. We can both get the physical book or the online version which we can download if available or they will send an email to let us know.
ReplyDeleteI still - because good habits are harder to break than bad ones - continue to buy books. They take space, they need places to live, I seldom remember which particular book holds what I want, and they make holes in my budget. Would I give them up? As soon as I stop breathing.
Elizabeth I totally related to this post. I too like to buy the hardbacks of authors that I simply know I will reread and want to keep in my library. I try to find them used. Then the paperbacks that I buy...I know I should do the library more and stop buying but I feel I need to help the independent bookstores stay in business. Oh the smell and feel of books...that is why I don't think I could ever have a Kindle.
ReplyDeleteI need the textile touch...
Perfect timing in that I'm also gathering my books for summer. Maybe a closer view of your shelves would help out with that.
ReplyDeleteLove this post. xo
Although a Kindle sounds good and I do hope to get one in the near future, there is still something wonderful about a bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteIf it weren't for our local library, I would be broke and my kids would be bored. Thank goodness for the library!
ReplyDeleteWe love the library, and my kindle is gradually saving my overstrained bookshelves. It's hard to let the physical copies of books go, though. I'm sorting at the moment, and the hard copies are asking me not to leave!
ReplyDeleteI have those two Laurie Colwin books. I miss her and Gourmet magazine, too. Have you read any of Elizabeth David's food writing? Reading your posts so often sends me to my own dusty stacks. (I haven't read the Elizabeth David Classics book I have, but have now pulled it out to read -- thanks to you.)
ReplyDeleteThe Tampa (Florida) Public Library was the only place my mother would leave us kids unattended for an hour or two. Man, I loved that place. Still love to go to libraries and sit on the floor with a pile of books dragged out all around. Love the smell of books. These days I go to the University of West Florida library and am staggered that so many of the great fiction books on the third floor have never once been checked out.
I wish books were less expensive here in Canada, as i would buy more,
ReplyDeleteLibraries are sacred places .
Wow, this post made me SO happy. I love it and all the responses too. Lovely. I feel like I want to make a big collage of the words and make a poster for near the circ desk.
ReplyDeleteI type this surrounded by library books, buried in them actually, better get back to work!
Love this...nice London flat as well. The books piled up remind me of Carl Sandburg home in Flat Rock.
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