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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters borrow a copy of Haruki Murakami's latest rather than buying one, we'll save about 85 trees.
COCKTAIL FACT
The Drug Enforcement Administration's in-house library purchases three subscriptions to High Times (a mag for stoners) each year.
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Can't remember the last time you got carded?
The Bite
Revisit your wrinkle-free youth at the library. Your library card gives you free access to books, movies, and music - plus borrowing keeps paper and plastic out of production. You're never too old for that.The Benefits
- Free entertainment. Movie rentals are up to $5 a pop, a CD costs about $20 and a new hardcover can set you back $25. Most library memberships are free.
- Saving paper and oil. More than 3.1 billion books are purchased in the United States each year, and most are made from nonrecycled paper and petroleum-based inks. And don't get us started on CDs and DVDs...
- Great selection. Libraries are constantly adding new media.
- Additional perks. Many libraries offer other free benefits, such as wireless Internet, author appearances, and art exhibits.
Personally Speaking
Toshio saved 60 big ones catching up on Lost DVDs thanks to the library across the street from his house.Wanna Try?
- Public Libraries - locate your nearest public library.
Nov 08,2007
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The Truth About Libraries
One of the best things about having a library card: If you're too embarrassed to buy a book, you can just borrow it instead.
Trust me - paying good money for that copy of Nicole Richie's The Truth About Diamonds would've been way worse than the walk of shame I endured leaving the circulation desk.
-Toshio...off to see how the baby's doing...
Trust me - paying good money for that copy of Nicole Richie's The Truth About Diamonds would've been way worse than the walk of shame I endured leaving the circulation desk.
-Toshio...off to see how the baby's doing...
Biter Comments...
I thought this little tidbit would be pretty funny. Three years ago when I moved to a new city I went to the library to get a card. The librarian took my application and said "you will have to come back after you have had your parents sign here and here." I was pretty confused so I asked her why. She said "when you are under sixteen and applying for a library card you need parental permission."
!!!!!!!
I was so surprised. I said I am 25 years old!
She asked me for my drivers lisence and blushed.
I felt pretty good all day.
I work in a library and love it. I get to find all kinds of neat authors.
If we don't have something, just ask. We have the ability to get something sent from other libraries. Sometimes there is a small fee if we have to go out of state...
We also have the newspaper, magazines...all kinds of things. You can even go online and read IdealBite from there!
Just one plea, remember, librarians are people too!
Unfortunately, I live in a very rural (very conservative) area, and the library does not stock many things that interest me. I've attempted, with limited success, to request some titles. My library has not been willing to facilitate a true inter-library loan from anyone outside their tiny "region". My way around this is to create a shared library - trading purchased books 3 or 4 times between friends, then donating them to the public library. It's the best solution I've found so far for a voracious reader. Anyone have other ideas?
I also like paperbackswap.com because you can trade your books with others. There's no sign up fee and you only pay when you ship a book (via media mail rate) to someone else. For each book you send to someone you get a credit to request a book from someone else.
I love the library and the books, CDs, magazines, etc., that they provide at little or no cost. Plus it demonstrates recycling at its best.
so funny and so true! there are also the shared embarrasing purchases, like the copies of the nanny diaries and janice dickinson's biography my friends and i were passing around...
For anyone who is dissatisfied with his own public library, some counties, municipalities, etc form reciprocal arrangements. That is, County A will allow residents of County B to use its libraries and vice versa for free. (Some even use the same card!)This is especially useful if you live nearer the other area than your own library. Some university systems also do this. Just ask; you never know!
I was just thinking about libraries this week and wondering what they might be like in another 10,20,30 years. Will we be able to download MP3? Will they still stock books in print? Will internet access make libraries archaic? I love my local library! When I travel, I borrow books on tape or CD that are prohibitively expensive. Just wondering what our options will be in the future.
I love my local library!! We can also get books from the county library's branches by ordering them through our library's system & picking them up & returning them at our library. It's all online so I can request a hold on a book,make up my list, or renew online at home. Plus my library has lots of cd's, dvd's etc to borrow for free!!You can take out 3 dvd's at a time for 3 days. The library also sponsors lots of programs for kids, young adults & adults, including a monthly garden series. We also have wireless internet, magazines, newspapers etc. They get local authors to speak & have a poetry reading session once a month. They have blood drives there every other month. My library is very much a part of our community.
Unless, of course, you live where I do; my local library is small and has a crappy selection, and has far too many loud senior citiizens/preschoolers. The next closest library is just as loud, and doesn't open to the public until noon!
I generally try to escape to the local community college's library, but out-of-the-way study areas are few and far between, and there's hardly anything in the way of fiction.
Blarg. I miss my big college library, with quiet nooks and people who knew better than to be loud in the library; I could get some actual WORK done on my writing!
Hooray for YOU. The public library is the best deal in America. Using economies of scale, libraries cooperate on purchases and offer free internet access and, often, access to computers for typing papers. When I moved to this town, the first thing I did was get a library card...before satellite TV and the internet.
Growing up, my Mom worked at our public library, I spent many hours lost in the world of books. Unfortunately, I live outside of the city limits and our township will not vote to be a part of the library system. Therefore it would cost me $150 a year to use the library. I miss it, but can not justify the cost right now.
One more thing...there is a fun book to read titled "Not Buying It, My Year Without Shopping" by Judith Levine. It has a sad commentary about the loss of funding for libraries. Check it out.
I for one really love to buy books(hardcover) so I can make my own library for home. Maybe not so good for trees but its not like they get thrown out-I love them. Also as far as paperbacks go I don't buy them but me and like half our town have a good swap thing going on. Need a new book to read? Lets call so and so and see if they have anything. And most of us have enough common sense to donate to the library when the book is ready to retire. That might sound bad to you, I don't know, but really its a good thing-our local library got closed down due to a bad flood over the summer and still hasn't reopened- I have two boxes of soft covers to donate when they do, cause sometimes I do go there to get what I can't find elsewhere.
I'm about a day late here, but to add to the list of services our local library offers...
We can go online and download audio books (it's either free or very cheap). I've never done it, because I tend to forget it's offered, but you can burn it on a CD or your download to your mp3 player and after a certain amount of time, it just sort of erases itself, so you don't have to worry about returning anything. Like I said, I'm a little hazy on the details, but that's the idea anyway. That's a lot better than buying those books on tape! What are they now, something like $35 or $40 a pop?
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Cathy | November 08, 2007 at 06:53 AM