You can have an American Express card and “never leave home without it.” Or you can have a Master Card because its “priceless.” To me, I think my local library card is worth more.
While Google, which is as close as your keyboard, has replaced the library as the first place to start research, your local library also has a fair amount of information and resources readily available. Unlike Google, it offers a tactile experience as you peruse the stacks in an area of interest that might have just occurred to you. For example -
- SIC catalogs for businesses
- Consumer Reports archives
- Numerous magazine archives
- Today’s newspapers, as well as last week’s
- How to manuals on innumerable topics
- A wide range of entertaining fiction
- Informative non-fiction
- DVD’s of a variety of movies and documentaries, and recently
- Downloads of recent publications for your Kindle, etc.
Of course, if you do have a Google itch that you must scratch, computers are stationed there just waiting to address that need. And for these computers, someone else worries about maintaining the anti-virus software. You don’t have to.
Our local library not only offers all these treasures, it provides quiet, comfortable niches in which to nestle and enjoy. Often, it can seem like a little vacation just to stop by for a couple of hours, browse for awhile, discover a new book or author, and park in an easy chair to devour the first few chapters. Our local library may not serve coffee, but one cozy corner does even boast a fireplace.
All these treasures, both near at hand and free. Your local library truly is a treasure. If you want a treat, discover it again this week.
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