Libraries: Still a Minority View, But......

Link to December 5 KCHBlog post, "10 Reasons I Love Yet Ignore the Library". (via Lazyfeed)

Excerpt: So why can’t I remember the last time I visited a library other than to say “hi” to the high school librarian? Here are a few reasons:

1. I already have a pile of books and magazines waiting to be read.
2. When I decide I want to read a certain book, I put in a request on Bookins, and more often than not I get what I want and just pay the shipping.
3. The wonderful Flintridge Bookstore is up the street, and it stocks the required reading books for our school district. I like to support them since they’re big supporters of our local schools, and since their business suffered when the truck crashed into them last year.
4. Amazon.com. Sorry, but I get free shipping.
5. When I read a book, I don’t always finish in time to return it to the library.
6. My local library is loud, bright and sometimes seems like an afterschool daycare facility. (The picture to the right is not of our local library: it’s a picture of the Camarillo Library, whose interior was designed by The Design Studio.)
7. The library usually doesn’t have what I’m looking for in stock at our local branch. They’re good about ordering online, but that doesn’t help if I’m in a hurry.
8. If I want to listen to an audiobook, I purchase it on iTunes and put it on my iPod.
9. I don’t need to use the computers at the library, since I have one at home. And through it I can access more updated research information than the printed encyclopedia at the library has. (Are there printed copies of encyclopedias anymore?)
10. My dog chewed up my library card, and then I lost it. Seriously. I was hoping to scan it for this post, but I can’t find it.