I'm not sure how many people in the United States have a library card, but if I were to venture a guess, it would be: Not enough. One of the most empowering things about going to a library is applying for a library card (no background checks, no forms, no 3-week waiting period) that took about a minute and a half to check my residence status and confirm that I was indeed the person, and suddenly with library card in hand you have access to almost every single book that particular library carries. It's not exactly the access that you get from just opening your Iphone and clicking on the "safari" button, but nowadays the internet access from library cards allows access to many E-books that would normally be blocked behind a pay wall.
For some reason I'd been sending my time at Barnes and Noble, which has 2 for 1 sales, the latest hit titles, etc., but.....alas, not free. Lots of fancy categorizing and display techniques with notes from the staff about which books were their favorites, but now libraries have a pretty sophisticated system too (they've learned). It's not just rows upon rows of old stuffy volumes, tomes of encyclopedias and dictionaries, the libraries have done a good job of prioritizing their audience and catching eyes of would-be book renters. For example, after receiving my golden ticket, aka library card, with a bounce in my step I went to the first wing in front of me, which happened to be non-fiction/history section (my favorite now that I've liked to accumulate facts for Jeopardy), were lined books about famous people in various areas with titles like "Serving the Sevant: Remembering Kurt Cobain" and "500 Stories about the Beatles," a title about Frieda Kahlo's exploits in Gringoland (America), and "Sting like a Bee: Muhamid Ali." All very compelling reads that if I had all the time in the world, I would for sure sit down and devour. In particular, my knowledge about popular music from 1970's - 2000's is very limited, and almost non-existent before the past year, where I've barely scraped the tip of the iceberg with knowing some of the top Beatles hits, knowing that John Forgerty was Creedence Clearwater Revival and Lou Reed was the Velvet Underground. All things the average American should have general knowledge about, but without the necessity to know them, many Americans just trudge along their day in their own little bubbles of sports or social media or whatever their interests are. (I was and still am one of them). Perhaps my fascination of exploring a new library full of books parallels with my new fascination with new facts about life in different genres like opera, musicals, the Bible, and places of the world and seeing so many different worlds open up to me as I walk from shelf to shelf in the library. And that was just the nonfiction/history wing. If I was giddy and eager walking into my first ever library (likely the Indian Prairie Library in Darien, Illinois, or maybe a school library at my first elementary school at Robert Healy School in inner city Chicago), I don't think I've lost any eagerness and feel just as excited to go to a new library now.
Anyway, get a library card. It's empowering just to know how much you have access to, free. (When I checked out a book, the receipt even told me I was saving $16.85 when I checked out this book). And I don't doubt that the semi-new book (published in 2020, written by Claire McNear called "A Definitive History and Insider's Guide to Jeopardy") would have cost me about that much plus tax at my local bookstore. It was a steal, and based on the condition of the book I doubt anyone had cracked it before I did. In a way, I'm giving the book its purpose, as without me it might otherwise have gone unread, or so I tell myself.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
No comments:
Post a Comment