Matt Rants and Reminisces about the Library
One of the bummers about moving to Providence was leaving the Ann Arbor library. It was great; lots of glass and wood with comfy chairs and a fireplace and a huge selection of books, movies and magazines. I also felt like it was something the whole city used, when I ran into classmates, patients, and various other people there. Although to be honest, I think I'm in the minority of twenty-somethings who use the public library. Many people it seems prefer to go to bookstores or just read online, but there's something very communal and local and free about a public library that you can't get anywhere else. The Providence library has smaller locations without the selections. The one downtown has no parking around it (which screams, don't visit me) and they aren't open on Sundays. What kind of library is closed on Sunday? That's a peak day for lounging around and reading the paper or other stuff.
The library has always been a big deal in my family. Almost every week growing up we'd go and my parents would pick out a stack of books for them to read and we did the same. I remember going to the grand opening of the Glendale Public library which had a mural and some nice sculpture. We loved it so much, that when we moved out of district, to the Phoenix Public library, we never told the Glendale Library System. For years, when the circulation desk would ask my brother and I our addresses, we were trained to lie and say it was in Phoenix. One day, a very sad day, my brother forgot to lie and the library found out, and we were not allowed to borrow there anymore. This might explain why my brother and sister aren't really what you'd call "readers".
Where do you go to chill out and explore new books/magazines? Aren't you uncomfortable sitting for hours in a bookstore and not buying anything?
The library has always been a big deal in my family. Almost every week growing up we'd go and my parents would pick out a stack of books for them to read and we did the same. I remember going to the grand opening of the Glendale Public library which had a mural and some nice sculpture. We loved it so much, that when we moved out of district, to the Phoenix Public library, we never told the Glendale Library System. For years, when the circulation desk would ask my brother and I our addresses, we were trained to lie and say it was in Phoenix. One day, a very sad day, my brother forgot to lie and the library found out, and we were not allowed to borrow there anymore. This might explain why my brother and sister aren't really what you'd call "readers".
Where do you go to chill out and explore new books/magazines? Aren't you uncomfortable sitting for hours in a bookstore and not buying anything?