Looking at that library list got me thinking. And you know, we've actually lost data with the move to digital, first with electronic checkout, and now with ebooks. Oh, the info is still there, just no longer visible to us.
I wish I could still see, with a certain amount of wonder like I used to, how long ago the last person checked out this book. And how often it was checked out. I used to love to run my finger down the line of stamped dates on the card, and think about who might have been reading it, and what they thought.
Or the alternative! To discover I was the first person to check out a dusty tome from the deep recesses of an academic library's back shelves, maybe for over a decade! I was the only one privy to its secrets for an age.
Stamps. I miss stamps.
I miss card catalogs. For whatever reason it was easier for me to track stuff down paging through one card at a time than calling up a web page with a million options on it. Plus, the visceral feel of handling the drawers and cards was nice.
Concur with you both. I always enjoyed - particularly at college - looking through the card stamps and seeing a friend read that book a couple years previously. And learning how to use the card catalog gave me a sense of mastery at an early age. I
knew
how to find things at the library without asking. And I used it a lot.
I've finished Cold Kiss and Glass Heart! Oh, hookers and blow. I don't even remember how that got started.
Also, I'm fifty pages into
Redshirts
and loving it so far.
Oh, yeah, the day I learned to use the card catalog was a Good Day. As was the day I worked out that the "adult" section was not actually an enforced security area.
Oh, yeah, the day I learned to use the card catalog was a Good Day. As was the day I worked out that the "adult" section was not actually an enforced security area.
When it is, you can just wear your invisibility cloak!!
AHAHAHAHAHAA my first ever Harry Potter allusion. /HPnewbies4evah
I feel sad about the Barnes & Noble closings...I like the one in my neighborhood, even though I haven't been in for months.
I feel sad about the Barnes & Noble closings...
Every bookstore closing is a like a stab to my heart. But I'll be really bummed if the B&N in El Cerrito closes, since that's chiefly where I cool my heels when Emmett's got baseball practice.
