Getting a Fix for Free or In Praise of the Public Library

Hi.  My name is Terri and I'm a book-aholic.  My acknowledgment of that isn't anything new.  I've often described myself as a bibliophile but it wasn't until yesterday that I realized my love of books may cross the fine line from vice into addiction. 

I went to the library to return one book and came home with three more to go with the three already on the floor by my bed.  The library stack is next to two other piles of my own books and one of books borrowed from friends.  They're on the floor because there's no room on the nightstand or either of the two bookshelves in my room.  Nor on the two shelves I have in the basement.  There are also a few books in the back seat of my car, "Just in case . . ."  Some people, like my brother, have emergency preparedness kits that consist of water, granola bars, and blankets in their cars in case they get stranded in a storm.  I have a biography of Henry James.

Despite my love of books, I'm trying to be more frugal in my purchase of them.  My new rule of thumb is that I can't purchase a book-- electronic or otherwise-- unless I've read two and gotten them off the shelves.  But being an addict, I'm always looking for my next fix.  So as I looked through my stack of library books last night, trying to decide what to read before bedtime (yet another Ian McEwan won out), I was overcome by a rush of amazement and gratitude for the public library.

One of my favorite libraries - Gladstone's Library in Wales

Then again, I've always loved my local library.  Some of my fondest childhood memories are cozy recollections of choosing well worn, well loved books from the children's section-- The Country Bunny and the Golden Shoes, Blueberries for Sal, one of the many Madeline stories.  The first time I checked out a book from the adult section I must have been about 10 or 11.  I remember it was October and I wanted some seasonal reading but I'd read everything Halloweenish in the juvenile section.  Looking in the card catalog, I found a book on local ghost stories and checked it out.  As I wandered the tall shelves in the adult aisles I was entranced by the titles and colors of the cellophane covered spines.  I decided when I was older, I'd start in the A section and read every novel in the library. 

I haven't managed to do that yet, although I did begin the project at one point and soon gave up, realizing that while the library has a bunch of books I want to read, it also has just as many that hold no interest for me whatsoever.  But the great thing about the library is that it does encourage me to read books I wouldn't necessarily read if I had to purchase them for myself.  Sitting in my stack right now is what I think, based on the cover image and description, is a steam-punk mystery.  It's a book I would never buy for myself but seeing it on the shelf in the new book section I thought, "Why not?"

I realize that when I say I can get my book fixes for free at the public libraries that they really aren't free.  The budget of my local library system is funded by taxes.  The current figures per my estimate with the latest data available is that it costs each citizen of Montgomery County Maryland around $30/year for the use of the public libraries. 
Thirty dollars.  This is an amazing bargain when you think of it.  My library offers free internet service, electronic and audio books, DVDs, Cd's, story time for children, book groups for adults, lectures, author readings, concerts, cultural events, free WiFi for patrons, the wisdom and expertise of librarians both in person and on-line through a chat function, and of course books. 

So thank you public libraries, for feeding my addiction.  I'd be a lesser read person without you.