i needed some books for a class i'm working on, so i searched amazon and found all of them. i was going to head out to the nearest barnes&noble when i thought about our resource budget here at work. i decided that i could just go and check them out at the nearest public library, although it did strike me as ironic that i had not considered this option first.

when i pulled into the parking lot of the library i noticed rather abstract architecture, but a high ceiling. 'good,' i thought 'that means more books.' upon entering, i saw six double-sided rows of books containing fiction to my far right and a rounded nook with tables and periodicals on my immediate left. i headed for the computers to search for the titles i needed. upon obtaining all the ISBN numbers, i realized that this little room i was in was all. there were not any other floors or rooms in this public library. i looked up at the high ceiling . no walls lined with shelves, only gray brick and windows. 'i must be mistaken,' i thought.

i walked up to the librarian who had no doubt been watching me scan the perimeter of the building, even venturing forward into certain areas before realizing i was in the audio/visual section or childrens literature. i asked her to look up the titles for me. she did and three of the four were at different libraries. but then she discouraged me from going to those libraries; 'too far,' she said. or 'they're not very nice people there.' was i really supposed to believe this? and what was i supposed to do? the building where i was standing seemed to have less books than my personal study. were county funds really that low? was education really that far back on the burner?

i said thank you and left. this is why stores like barnes and noble and borders are the new libraries... however, i did think that if i need a part-time job after i retire, a librarian might just be the thing.

posted by Kelly @ 2:43:00 PM