For anyone who has been reading my blog. For anyone who knows me. For anyone who did more than take a quick glance around this spot. It's quite obvious that I am a reader. An avid reader. Sometimes even a book a day reader.
I am in two book clubs. Most of my choices are not high brow. I am a huge fan of pop fiction. I love smut. I like to escape with pure entertainment.
But my book reading habit. It wouldn't be a habit without the library. I rarely buy books. I prefer to get them from the library. In fact, even with a gift card, I am hard pressed to purchase a book when I know that I could read it for free. Or rather when I realize that through my tax dollars, I have already purchased the book that I want to read.
We use the library a lot. When the girls were little, we would go to storytime. To movies. Puppet shows. I have gone to neighborhood meetings. Girl scout meeting. And to vote at the library.
We are there often for homeschooling. Katie does research. We use the encyclopedias. We ask questions of the reference librarian. We use the computers.
It's an amazing resource. But. Our local libraries have had to make huge cutbacks. The tax base is just not what it was. The hours are shorter. And now they are only open 5 days a week instead of 7. There is talk of branch closings. And their purchasing department is losing funds. All of these events have led to much whining and complaining from me.
But then I heard last night that the city of Philadelphia is closing ALL of their public libraries. ALL of them. In the city of the very first library - there will no longer be free lending libraries. It is a travesty.
So...what about you? Do you use the library? Have the libraries in your area been affected by the economy? Had you heard about Philadelphia's libraries?
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