Advice: Get a Library Card

Close your eyes and think of a library. What comes to mind? Is it a stale room with outdated books and concentrated grandmas learning Microsoft Word on 1998 PCs? I can hear the dot matrix printer revving up right now. Do you feel the sweet sweet anticipation of the fifth-grade in-school field trip to the scholastic book fair with $5 from your mom burning a hole in your pocket? Yes, you should get that Lisa Frank folder of the Unicorn and Dolphin kissing on the moon. Perhaps you've leapt into a sexy fantasy where the once stoic librarian takes off her glasses and tousles out her hair in slow motion… you perv. Just kidding! Fantasize away (but that's not really where I'm going with this so consider a different site. I heard the internet has a few).

Whatever came to mind, I want you to challenge that. I used to be quite the library fanatic and not just on scholastic book fair day. There were new books, and old books, and games, and computers - and all of it at no-cost to me! Oh, what a dream! But when I started making, what I call, 'big girl money,' I thought it only right to develop my own library of books like a real adult. I pictured a house with a sprawling library where I would spend late afternoons swinging from rolling ladders looking for my next read like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. (Yes, of course I would be singing whilst swinging. C'mon now. Let's not be ridiculous.) Like a magnet, I'd be pulled into Barnes & Noble every time I passed, later walking out with three or four books closer to realizing my fantasy.

My collection, however, grew faster than I could read and my library started turning into haphazard piles of untouched books that I would read 'one day.' Let me tell you this: while I have some books that I have read down to their bones, I've never read a book that I purchased for 'one day.' If I didn't want to consume it the instant my butt hit the couch when I got home from the bookstore, then it would never be anything more than a decoration. In some weird way, I felt guilty for depriving the books of their purpose. That guilt turned into a sense of obligation that led me to lug my ever-growing library seven times in seven years while moving from apartment to apartment, somewhere knowing these books weren't going to get read.

It wasn't until I got a library card that I was able to free myself of the burden of these books and allow them to be loved and held by those who would actually read them. I originally sought out the local public library because my budget was tight and I was looking to get my book-fix at whatever cost. I assumed it'd feel something like eating raisins for dessert - technically correct, but missing the point.

Boy, was I wrong. Libraries have gotten quite the upgrade since my school days. (I'm 29 so I don't know why I talk like I was born in the 1940s.) First of all, the closest library to my house is a 7-minute drive and open until 9pm. Booya! Take that Barnes & Noble. They have the most current stuff and, get this, you can get audiobooks too! Also, if I wasn't already getting Netflix for free by mooching off my friend, I could get rid of it and opt for the free movies I can watch on the library apps. Even cooler are all the events going on there, making me feel connected to the community around me. On one Saturday alone you could compete in a chess tournament (I'd definitely lose), listen to an informational session on home-buying (I definitely can't afford), and participate in a basic coding class (I definitely need).

Now, all this is well and good, but what really sold me on the library was this: dropping books back off. Yes, returning books was the best part. If I didn't like the book, I could drop it off without an pinch of guilt. If I liked it, I was able to send it onward, knowing another reader, perhaps my neighbor, would be enjoying it soon. If I absolutely loved it, well, I can purchase it directly from the library or click on over to Amazon and get myself a new copy. (Side note: my library has a drive-through book drop. No late fees for this gal!)

Once I realized the pure joy of the library, I decided it was time to purge my shelves. Like the weirdo I am, I thanked all the books I was passing on and donated them to library (except the textbooks - I had to sell those, because that's some serious cash money right there). Of course, I kept some of my all-time and others that just bring me joy. But, for the most part, my shelves are pretty bare and I feel great. Getting rid of stuff, books included, makes me feel lighter in my life and I like that. It also allows me to really cherish the books I have chosen to keep. Fringe benefit: I have a couple extra dollars in my savings account from all the money that used to go to books. Maybe I will go check out that first-time home-buyers workshop.

So, I challenge you to type in 'Name of your city Public Library' into google right now. Really, do it now. I'll wait…

Is it open now? Swing by this week and explore the possibilities! It could be life-changing.