The services provided through the website of the Calgary Public Library are getting better and better. Whenever I hear of an interesting book or cd now, I just pop over to the site and, if they have the book in their catalogue, I put a hold on it right away.
But the cool 'secret weapon' is the Sugest a Title form where card holders can suggest books, music cds, audio books, videos, etc. for the library to acquire. I just had my first successful suggestion go through (Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals") - so the system definitely works.
I usually have about 6-12 things on hold at any given point. Some arrive at my local branch within a day or two - some of the more popular items have taken up to half a year to arrive (I think I started at about four-hundredth in line for Michael Moore's "Dude Where's My Country?" when I put a hold on it).
The nice thing about having lots of books on hold, and some of them taking a while to show up, is that I always have interesting new things show up for me to read.
As an activist, I see public libraries as a cornerstone of real democracy. The importance of the egalitarianism of making access to knowledge freely available cannot be overestimated.
Since funding support for libraries is largely determined through usage measurements - I try to make extensive use of the library's resources. Rather than buy books (even if I eagerly want to read something), I now prefer to wait for it from the library. With that, I get not only the joy of reading, but the satisfaction of knowing I'm doing my bit to support these essential institutions.
(Copied from my postings to the Wayground Blog.)
Thursday, June 24, 2004
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