Practical Application: Libraries and Library Book Sales

Although reading can be one of the least expensive methods of entertainment (vs. movie tickets, vacations, etc.), the price of that entertainment can vary greatly depending on where and whether you buy your books. Large book-selling chains like Borders and Barnes and Noble create a great atmosphere for bookworms like myself - who can resist those comfy chairs and mocha lattes? However, purchasing books from a first-run bookstore on a regular basis can get expensive. The occasional Harry Potter midnight release party with corresponding $25 book purchase is exciting, but what's more exciting is getting the SAME BOOK for a much smaller price - like FREE!

You see, there is this thing called a li-brar-y. I know, I know. If you're a kid that grew up in a rural town like me, you have preconceived ideas about what a library is like. Your county library was about the size of most people's bathrooms nowadays. It contained exactly 5 Dr. Seuss hardbacks, three Stephen King paperbacks, and a whole slue of encyclopedias from pre-1950. The checkout time was three days, and the library shared a building with the smelly county courthouse. Barf.

Libraries are different now! If you haven't been to a library in the past 10 years, you owe it to yourself to see just how much they've changed. Some county libraries have much better funding thanks to literacy programs. In fact, you are paying for your county library with your property tax each year. If you're not using your county library, you are just giving that money away. Some communities even have private libraries. The funding there can be all over the chart.

Libraries contain more than traditional books. Not everyone has time to sit with a book in hand, but most people can make time for audio books, music, movies, and computer games. All of these are available at your library - our library even lets you download audio books from home straight to an mp3 player!

Most libraries offer programs beyond children's storytime. Many offer movie-showings with free popcorn, host book clubs for all ages, and hold seminars on learning computer basics and even genealogy research and writers support groups.

Library locations are getting smarter. Instead of the institutional settings like the county courthouse or some weird brick building with fewer than five good parking spots, many libraries now share a building with a coffee house or cafe. Many libraries offer quiet study rooms and a sectioned-off children's area were two-year-olds can run and scream a bit without the traditional "shhh!"

You can even find better service at today's libraries. In the computer age, card catalogs are now totally online, which means you can look for books from the comfort of home. Our library let's you put them "on hold" and will email when they are ready to pickup in the drive-through window. That's right! We have a drive-through pickup window, not to mention drive-through book returns all over town.

Additionally, many of the "library pages" (as they are called in our town) are teenagers with jobs. Nothing sounds better to me than a teenager learning the value of money with their own job at the library.

And, if all that isn't enough to lure you in to your local library, consider attending the library book sale. I know some people out there are book buyers, and the thought of borrowing a book with a return deadline can be stressful. Yesterday I attended our library's semi-annual book sale. I bought 20 children's books (mostly board books) for $10. For those of you who don't know, one child's board book at even a discount store like Wal-Mart will cost at least $5, and probably more like $10. A few of them had some small Crayon markings, but they fit right in with my son's collection of once-new but now semi-damaged books.

I can think of a dozen more reasons for you to visit your library, but what I'd really like is for you to go discover them yourself. Today!