Imagine every two weeks always having a new book to read. Sounds great, right? You could accomplish this with a subscription to Amazon Kindle Unlimited. Or you could accomplish this with… your local library.
I love physical books.
I love shelves filled with physical books.
I love places with people who love books.
Libraries. I imagine you love them too.
The Kindle is also fantastic. Millions of books available at any time. But is a Kindle screen like a library shelf with real books? Not really? Maybe at some point the Kindle will get a VR screen and it will more like a library. I suspect the Kindle still wouldn’t match the library.
That’s the experience of the library.
Now here’s where I make it into a habit. I’m going to try to always have one library book on loan. My local library is about three blocks from my home, I walk by it every day from the train station. So this should be pretty easy.
I’ve lived by this library for about two years now, we’ve taken out tens and tens of books for my three-year-old. But I’ve only taken out about three books for myself. There’s something about suburban living that makes everything so destination based. I walk by that library every day, because I’m busy getting to my destination of home. I don’t take the simple time to quickly stop in and grab a new book. But now I shall!
To help me always find a book, I have a list of books I’d like to take out from my library. Instead of tucking this list away on some proprietary system, my Glen Ellyn Public Library wish list list is public on the great Worldwide library site, WorldCat.org.
As I continue to borrow books, I’ll move them off my wish list, and onto my Borrowed from Glen Ellyn list.
My first book in the chain is “Reclaiming conversation: The power of talk in a digital age“. This particular book wasn’t originally on my wish list. I discovered it… GUESS HOW?… By browsing the book shelves at the library!
Viva la library!