such a random question
 

Do you have a nice library where you live?

I live in this really small town and I have to say I think what i miss most is a nice library. I spent so much time at the library as a kid (and a teen) not even reading a whole lot but just looking at all the books and just having somewhere quiet to go.

So anyways.. if you have a nice library tell me all about it.. haha. :wub:

Maybe libraries aren't what they used to be anymore anyways and are filled with people just sitting with music in their ears and using electronics?

I suppose it's nice but it's not what I am used to. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and the library was amazing. I swear it's where I got my love of books...stacks upon stacks...shelf upon shelf...ladders to reach the sky, or so it seemed when I was little. I fondly remember it as such a magical place. Now when I go into the library, they don't have half the books I am looking for and nothing odd by any means, but popular authors or topics. It's frustrating to me. I would love to take my kids back to Brooklyn and show them this library.

You can check it out here.

But doesn't it look grand?
https://www.bklynlibrary.org/sites/d...aza_fasade.jpg

When I was a kid (LOL! Do I sounds really old??!), we went to the library for everything because we didn't have home computers or the internet. The library wasn't a really nice one, but it had what we needed.

When my kids were young, we didn't have a really good library, but we had computers and I have tons of books, so we didn't go to the library much. I was surprised at how noisy the library was when I went to a one near where we used to live. Libraries used to be totally quiet.

Now, we live in a different state and smaller town. We have several really nice libraries near us!! There are always cars in the parking lot, so they are used a lot, but my kids are older and don't see the need to go to the library...which is sad :(

oh wow erin!!! that's amazing!

We do have a small library here.. it's just one room in the same little building as our town's swimming pool.. lol

Well hey now, you are one up on me cause we don't have a swimming pool anymore. LOL We had two - one outdoor and one indoor - both were torn down/closed and they have given the kids a splash pad ...right next to the river which is leaving a lot of parents concerned for safety esp of little ones. My kids would love to swim but have zero interest at 10 and 14 to run around a splash pad. LOL If we want to swim in a pool we have to pay big bucks to use the university pool.

oh gosh! that is a strange place to put a splash pad for sure!!

Our pool IS great! We really are lucky here with that.. it's indoors (because well.. canada) and it's such a small town here where really you know everyone pretty much and the kids can go on their own at age 7. Lucas spent a lot of time at the pool this summer !

What a funny place for a library!! I guess if you're going to be out, the pool would draw more people. How nice to feel safe enough for your 7 year old to go to the pool alone. I would probably feel comfortable with that here, but there's no way I would have in CA!

Lucas didn't start going until this summer (so 9.5) but it is nice.. we all know the lifeguards and it's very quiet there. Of course the one strange thing living in a town like this is i think both kids will be in for a bit of a culture shock when it comes to moving away for post secondary.

I live on the GA/AL border now and in Columbus, GA they have a really lovely library unfortunately the one here in AL is seriously disappointing. So I can go to the nice one but not check anything out so there is no point really. I used to spend a lot of time in library as a homeschooling mom but now with the kids older it has been years since I have been to one.

oh that's too bad you aren't able to check anything out :( what a bummer

The county library here is kind of a disappointment. It's in a historic building that was once a school, and while I love history and am all for re-purposing buildings, this one is in dire need of an overhaul. Luckily, we also have two college libraries in my town, including one on the campus where I work (and I happen to be friends with the Library Director), so I can pretty much just message her if there's a specific book I want to read, and she'll get it for me.

Oh I wish I had a great library - I loathe when we have to go to ours and we homeschool! :mad: What makes it so horrible... lets see... have to pay to park and the parking person is right there when the meter expires... right next to the bus station so people always around begging for money or acting in a manner that I don't want my 10 year old to see... hot spot for the homeless because they can't be asked to leave - and they are begging for money or doing lewd things... the librarians are soo mean - don't ask them any questions, they will not help a person... if you are in luck that the computer says the book you want is on the shelf - you won't find it... and even if you get the rare opportunity to find a librarian who is willing to help - they can't find it either.

So yeah... I wish for the days of my childhood library - it was in the town's old jail so the library was smaller than my bathroom - no shelving, everything in piles... and only open one thursday a month from 1-3pm. Hmm... maybe I don't know what a good library is... :D

We have an alright one, but the best thing about it is that we have tons of libraries in the county and thanks to the inter library loan system, we have access to tons of books! We live at the library in the summer! I hope Colorado has a good one or at least a good system

They are building a brand new library in our town so I'm really excited. Right now I use our online library through the county.

We have a library and it's a good one. It's small and quiet. It's in an old building right next to/part of an elementary school. It's old but good.

We have an AMAZING library system here. My closest branch is recently remodeled and stunning and large. It's got so many great programs always going on and we've got so many community branches too (county library system), with another one just recently announced. I've got four different ones within a ten minute drive which is super awesome.

We're lucky to have a great library system here. It's county-wide and the county has about a million residents, so there are a lot of branches, all good sized. There are 3 within 10 minutes of my house. As a teacher, I'm there weekly taking out books for my class. My kids are big library users, too. Our library system also offers a lot of story hours, Lego clubs, book themed activities for older kids and teens, and book clubs and lectures for adults.

In addition to people reading less, I think libraries are suffering from the rise of ebooks. I know I'm guilty--almost 100% of my reading is ebooks and audio books. The library has some of each through Overdrive, but there's a lot they only have in print, and there are often waiting lists on Overdrive.

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We have several libraries in the town where I live so I guess I'm lucky. They have story times for small children too throughout the week spread out in different locations so that's nice.
And you can make requests of books you would like them to buy.

We have an amazing library here--we go every week, and they have such a great inter-library loan system, so we can get books from libraries all over northeastern Ohio delivered to our local branch. Our branch is fairly new-emodeled about ten years ago, and they have a gorgeous children's area, fireplaces upstairs where the adult fiction is, and huge windows everywhere. We used to live down the street, and we'd walk there all the time. Now we live about ten minutes away, but we end up going just as frequently. No way I'd be able to afford my book habit without the library.

we do! i love our library. the guy who had it built, he built it for his wife. so there's a super cute story behind it too. their digital selection kinda sucks, but i have a digital library card to the boston public library so it evens out.

Our city built a new library about five minutes from our house a few years back. It's very modern looking which is kind of out of place, but whatever. They get me books, and music, and videos from all over, so I don't care what it looks like. I can even get the library on my phone (which I've just got the app and need to explore more) to stream stuff and read.

We have a couple options here- the county public library is awesome & large- so even if our local one doesn't have the books I'm looking for- we can request it from another one! We also have a city library which doesn't have as big of a selection of adult books- but has a FANTASTIC kids section- so my kids prefer that library!

We are a family of readers & always have books checked out. I can't imagine the $$ we'd spend otherwise!!!

Nope not in our little town. We've got a library/high school library combo. It's connected to the high school and all. BORING

I loved the main branch in Kalamazoo where I grew up, even the other local branches were pretty nice and cozy

On post, not really. In town, where I live, not really. I went to one in a different part of town and it was small; didn't have any books that we wanted. I heard that there are nice ones in other areas of town, but I've not been to them. My daughter, who loves her books, hates all the libraries here because they never have her books and it takes months to get them ordered, if they can even find them.

Yep, we have a few libraries and I think they are all quite nice. We don't go often enough though because they are out of the way and I hate being regulated to how long I have to read a book.

I work across the street from the flagship branch of the Seattle library which is about 10 floors and an iconic structure in downtown Seattle. I'll admit, I don't go in very often. We have about 4 libraries in a 3 mile radius from our house, so between them, there is a pretty good selection. We also live close to the UW campus which houses many libraries. Since my hubs is an educator, he can borrow from them too.

I don't even know if there is a library in our city here in the Philippines, but we have a great library in my hometown in Arkansas.

It has a zillion books, the librarians are super nice and helpful, no homeless people doing lewd things, fun activities for kids, board games and soft places to read.

Plus, they have a great e-library, which we take full advantage of while we are overseas.

But now that I know some libraries have a pool, I feel a little disappointed in mine...

Our library is okay - we don't go nearly as much as we should because it's downtown and parking is a hassle and it's a pain to return books. But I would like to get into a better routine in the summer. Also, I don't really read paper books anymore (I read at bedtime, my husband prefers the light not stay on, so I do my reading on my paperwhite - occasionally I check out books on my kindle but no need to visit the library for that) - so it would be mostly for my kids. And only one of them actually enjoys reading (sporadically he enjoys it anyway). :)

We live in a small town... we have no library. However two miles down river, there is a tiny library in the next town. ;)
Here is a photo of it:
https://d1zqayhc1yz6oo.cloudfront.ne...7d2d3735b9.jpg

Literally it is tiny! Only one floor. They have been in this building since 1958... it is a schoolhouse from 1853. Didn't even have a bathroom until 1999! Yeah, it's small.

We moved to the "country" in 2014, away from a tourist town with a big budget and a very, very nice library! I do miss it, but that's probably the only thing I miss from living there.