L is for Library

One of my favorite places to be is in a library. So many possibilities. So much entertainment. So much to learn. All for free.

I have a tendency to leave with way more books than I could possibly read in the allotted time. More so now, I just can't get used to only getting books for 2 weeks.

I'm still not sure about the new library all together. We started off on the total wrong foot. When the librarians refused to give me a library card, saying I lived outside the city and needed to pay $75 dollars. I clearly live in the city, and I stormed out. It was my worst nightmare having all that free time and no free books to read. Luckily I have a husband who takes care of me and Mike contacted the director of the library and got everything settled. The new library is also really big, and I don't know where things are. I knew our old library so well. It's been a tough transition. I've resorted to placing holds on every book online, so it's waiting for me at the front desk. I couldn't find contemporary fiction that was new in the last couple years! It was very frustrating. My new system works much better.

I'm very much one who chooses a book by its cover. Interesting cover design makes me pick the book up, and most likely get it (in the case of fiction). But another favorite activity involves going up to the 2nd floor New Non-Fiction bookshelves. I actually have to limit my trips to those shelves because without a doubt I will leave with at least 5 books. Big, heavy non-fiction books.

I have many happy memories of going to the library as a child. It was such a treat to head to tiny library with my dad, and being allowed to pick out books while Dad combed the sci-fi section. There were books I checked out repeatedly, but as I got older I was so disappointed by the library's lack of Babysitters Club books. I remember losing my library card so I could get a new one…not the flimsy white one I had initially been issued but a strong, thick beige one. Or researching things like the city's landfill history in order to do my 7th grade science project, which included me creating a landfill representation in a fish tank with aquarium rocks (gosh that was incredibly heavy). Riding to an old grocery store off the Square, that temporarily housed the public library, while the library building was being renovated (into the above photo) and I was really into John Grisham. And more recently walking Braydon in his stroller from my parent's house to the library in the summer, and all the librarians commenting on what a good baby he was for not crying, then loading up on knitting books and Martha Stewart magazines.

Now my library trip are more planned and quicker. Either on my lunch break or after work, just going to pick up something on hold. Perhaps one day I'll feel more at ease in the new library, where I can stroll or bike downtown and spend an hour or so just browsing, finding hidden gems.

And for those of you that are interested, here's the haul I came home with on Friday:
• Classic Knits: 15 timeless designs to knit and keep forever; by Erica Knight
• Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life; by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Read by Jim Dale
• Knitting with Balls: Hands-on guide to knitting for the modern men; by Michael Del Vecchio
• Men Who Knit and the Dogs that Love Them: 30 great-looking designs for man and his best friend; by Annie Modesitt
• Mr Darcy's Diary; by Amanda Grange
• Speed Knitting: 24 quick and easy projects; by Kris Percival

The knitting books have some cute patterns, haven't cracked the novels, so I can't recommend them yet. Though if you are looking for a tried and true recommendation check out Jasper Fforde and the Thursday Next series (the newest has just been released), but I would start with The Eyre Affair and work your way through…and then onto the Nursery Crimes series.