Libraries. Are you a member?

We have a lovely library/theatre/cafe/museum in our town centre and I feel rather guilty reading these comments that I don’t use it.
Enduring a very unhappy childhood, the local library was my refuge and I became a complete bookworm. Books often mean more to me than people.
So, I have a huge collection of books and pick them up from various places constantly. I like to take my time now with a book and don’t really want to keep renewing it. Apart from a work of fiction, I always have other books on the go, biographies, diaries and letters.
What can I do to support the library without taking out books I don’t need?

Love our library. We can order books for free, which is great.

I was the first to get ‘Spare’ when it came out!

👑

Why buy books when you can borrow them for free?

Our library went online during lockdown. Having previously said I would never read books online I am now a convert as is my husband. I manage a couple of books a month but my husband reads 4 or 5 a week.
The library proper still exists and in fact is moving to bigger premises so maybe going online has encouraged some new readers

Yes, I've been a member of my local library for the past 48 years. Noticed on a recent visit that they were doing a head count of visitors. Methinks that may not bode well.... Hope I'm wrong.

Yes. But I use their online service most.

We had a small library in our village but it was closed down so members of the village started a book exchange in the same room and it is very popular. They have jigsaws and school uniform exchange too. A great resource for all.

Stillstanding

When I was small we lived a few doors down from the local library and there was a story club in the basement once a week. Both my parents were readers and I have moved a number of times and the first thing I look for is the nearest library.
Now I have a library lady who brings me large print books and audio books on CD. I can also get audio books on my tablet. It was only my library lady who got me through the pandemic. Yes I had food and other stuff delivered into my porch for which I am very grateful but it was the books, large print and audio that got me through.

I have always used libraries since a very young child, walking with my sister a good three miles to reach our nearest one. Our school let us go out and do research at the nearest library and the dragon in charge kept us in order! I have worked in volunteer libraries for English speakers in several countries and have been a member of our village library since the 1980s.
When the library service decided to close it, a group of us managed to turn it into a volunteer library under the CC umbrella. I loved it and got to know so many people.

Many libraries are closing which is a shame but their original purpose was to educate and inform those who had no other access. These days that is not the case and most borrowers just take out fiction as the internet has replaced much research undertaken. That is why libraries these days are progressing to just larger ones being community hubs and smaller branches closing.

Yes, always have been a member and always will be. Reading is my lifeline and I couldn't possibly afford to buy all the books I read.

In fact, I used to be a librarian in a university at one time.

I've been a member of a library since the age of 5 when my Dad (a great reader) used to take me to the library every Saturday morning. I remember the Victorian building in Birmingham with its high ceilings. I fell in love with books there, learned about the Dewey Decimal system from my Dad, and was excited every week to be able to go away with a book I had chosen. My family were not well off and when I was a child we owned only two books - a dictionary and a family bible. Still love a library and the Covid lockdown years were the longest I had ever gone without access to a library.

Yes, I've used libraries all my life and I continue to do so. Sometimes I order/reserve books: the charge (currently 80p per book) is cheaper than the price of many charity shop books, and often I'll read a book only once. I go to a regular group activity in the library: various groups are going on there, including weekly "Coffee & chat" groups, which offer a warm and friendly welcome to all. On Friday the library was a-buzz with children's holidays activity time - wonderful!

I love libraries and have been with the Devon library service since I was 6 and I'm now nearly 86.
There's a small one in the village, run by volunteers, and a big one in Newton Abbot with many facilities and helpful staff. I go there at least once a week.

I used to be .
It's a lovely old building and the staff are sweet .
The books are a poor selection .

On ordering a Botany book I was asked , is that flowers ?

I buy charity shop books and if it's special - try for a discounted source , but I usually end up paying a lot .

Certainly , a specialist publication like a botany book will cost a lot .

Absolutely yes, we have a super one, however haven’t been in for ages!

Yes! Ours has a great cafe/seating area, theatre space behind and can host small art exhibitions. Libraries have gone from being the 'shhh!!' space of childhood to something dynamic and alive. We still have small quiet spaces tucked away for those who need their space. I do regret the lack of qualified librarians.

I live in a village which has a small volunteer run library, only open a couple of days a week but it also runs story play times for small children and gets all its stock from the County library. In fact you have to join the County library service to use our lovely little one.

Yes I am a member of our sweet little village library. It’s only open 4 days a week though.

When I was small we lived a few doors down from the local library and there was a story club in the basement once a week. Both my parents were readers and I have moved a number of times and the first thing I look for is the nearest library.
Now I have a library lady who brings me large print books and audio books on CD. I can also get audio books on my tablet. It was only my library lady who got me through the pandemic. Yes I had food and other stuff delivered into my porch for which I am very grateful but it was the books, large print and audio that got me through.

I have loved libraries since I was a small child and my children and grandchildren are members of their local one, including the daughter who lives abroad. A criteria in any house move for me was - how near is the library? I agree with those who say " use it or lose it" which is why my book group source our choices from the library service.
It's very encouraging to see the Reserved For Book Group shelves full with so many selections.

As a child, up to my teenage years, I visited my local library weekly and loved it! Sixty years later and I have joined another local library and it's like coming home. I hadn't realised just how much I had missed it!

I love libraries! As a child we had a tiny library at school and county librarians would come round a couple of times a year and renew our collection. Our nearest public library was about a 10 mile round trip but there was no public transport and we didn’t have a car then.

At grammar school we had a much bigger school library and also a very good public library in the town. I was in heaven!

As an adult everywhere I have lived I have used libraries. From huge two storey ancient buildings with galleries where everyone had to shush to 1970s single storey blocks of concrete.

I buy a lot of books these days but I often order new books in from the library and occasionally a DVD. We have a mobile library which I did use years ago but I always forget what day it comes now! Our small town libraries are welcoming and they all do free hot drinks, period packs, cold weather packs, sun cream and secondhand books.

My favourite library is about 90 years old and is just lovely. It is all wood panelling inside with light flooding in through a domed roof. I could happily sit in there all day and just soak up the atmosphere.

I have 2 very good libraries within walking distance of my home. I love going there. They are great for printing boarding passes etc as I don't have a printer.
If you don't use it, your local council will close it!

Not any longer.
As a child, I was always in the local library, even volunteering to help in there. But since I left school, I've not bothered with libraries, preferring to buy my own books (I have a pretty large collection now).

I'm a member of Libby, a Club library and the Bodleian. My OH is a member (and trustee) of the library in our market town which is volunteer staffed due to the extensive cuts made by the Tories to local authority budgets. I first went to the local library in Hull with my mother and then graduated to the Hull Central Library which had a children's and adult lending library, an exceptionally good reference library, a scientific and technical library and a newspaper reading room. Those were the days when public libraries were regarded as an essential to an educated public.

I have my dream job now, I help to run a English Library and information centre in a local town here in France. We are all volunteers and as well as books and DVDs we have a small cafe where people can socialise. We also run french language classes for English people and an English language group for French people. Volunteers are both French & English and we are supported by the local Maire who found a building for us to use free of charge. I can work amongst the books to my heart's content.

Absolutely, to support my binge reading habit.