Since being a small child when I would regularly
walk the two mile return journey to my local library, I have always valued and
enjoyed visiting these institutions even though I and they have changed over
the decades. I still miss those
catalogues of index cards housed in wooden drawers and the cardboard tickets
with the pocket. Am I the only one who
envied the librarian as she stamped the date on the books? School libraries, both as a pupil and a
teacher, have represented a peaceful haven from the tumult of the surroundings.
During the pandemic, reading and procuring
reading material has been top of my list so, while my usual sources such as
friends and charity shops have not been readily available, I have had to find
others. A bit like an addict, I always
need a stash of reading matter.
Little
libraries
I have spotted Little Libraries all over including this one in a tiny, Yorkshire village:
In my
opinion, not as good as holding a book in your hand, virtual libraries have
their place. My Kindle app allows me to
carry about with me hundreds of books which are readily accessible while
travelling or queuing. The downside is
making sure the devices are charged and the difficulty of recalling the title
of my current read when the front cover and writer’s name isn’t always on show.
While the municipal libraries have been
closed, the facility to borrow ebooks and audiobooks have been added to their
services using the app Borrowbox enabling borrowing and at the click of a
button. This has enabled me to virtually
borrow quite a few books from my to-read list and to try out audiobooks using
my new earbuds. I have to admit that I
am not a fan audiobooks, particularly when it involves multiple characters, the
reader’s voice is not appropriate or you want to re-read bits.
Other
Library Services
While the libraries have been closed for
pandemic of 2020, they will be sorely missed by those who use the wide range of services they provide; reading
rooms, Wifi hotspots and, especially in the case those village libraries taken
over by volunteers, venues for talks, table tennis and toddler groups.
I have previously blogged about various other
libraries at Third Age:
Libraries (thirdageblogger.blogspot.com) so I won’t repeat myself.
Please do comment on your preferred reading
sources or books to recommend.
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You won't be surprised that this is a subject dear to my heart!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was being trained to be a Librarian, we were still doing the stamping and working with the index cards. Catalogueing according to the official set of rules was something I was really, really good at, and to this day, I get all nostalgic whenever I enter the German Literature Archive and walk along the rows of old wooden chests with their small, long drawers full of index cards.
Only during my last year working at my home town's library, we started switching to an electronic system. If I were to work at a library nowadays, I would have to (re-)learn a lot, I guess!
Love the idea of the Little Libraries.
We've been lucky with our local library. We can register to have books waiting for collection – our choices of genre, subject etc and collect and return them in a safe way. Sadly though the library will close at the end of the year. I'm really going to miss it.
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