NetFlix for books
A friend of a friend caught herself lamenting, "How come there isn't a NetFlix for books?" And then it hit her--
It's called the library.
OK, so they don't deliver (unless you've got a Bookmobile, and it stops close by). But you can't beat the monthly rate! "Free" is far cheaper than NetFlix.
I have recently begun taking books out of the library rather than buying them from Amazon, Powells, or something similar. In fact, I even sold a bunch of books-- my old sci-fi collection, back from the high school/college days when I read sci-fi. That seemed to represent an earlier stage of my life, and I have a longstanding pattern of erasing my past behind me (perhaps I'll muse on that more someday).
My shelves were cluttered with stuff that was just sitting there, and I thought, Why? Why buy books to put on a shelf? Sometimes I lend or give them to people, and very occasionally I look something up or even reread a book. But mostly they just sit there. I don't care about using them to impress people, so I might as well just get them from the library.
Ah, the library! The San Jose Public Library is a wonderful thing. The main branch is also the library for San Jose State University, so it is very well stocked: about 8 floors of books on all manner of subjects, from Etruscan history to cell biology to Chinese politics. The architecture is stunning also, giving the sense of physical spaciousness, which couples nicely with spaciousness of thought.
There are many satellite branches too, spread around the community. I even checked out a book from one recently because it was already borrowed from the main branch. The satellites are much more like local libraries. The Calabazas branch looks like a converted house, with one floor of creaking shelves, a cute play area for kids, a few computer terminals, and-- yes-- a paper card catalogue.
Remember the card catalogue? I remember from elementary school. When I started using it, I wasn't even tall enough to peep over the edge of the top drawer of index cards. Everything was filed by the Dewey Decimal System, for which there was a huge chart hung on the wall. I used to study that chart, fascinated that you could organize books by numbers. I wondered if they would ever run out. Not yet, apparently-- the Calabazas branch actually still uses the Dewey Decimal System to file its books.
Of course, large libraries (and many small ones now) use the Library of Congress system. It sounds a lot more impressive, doesn't it? Oh, this is the system they use at the Library of Congress-- it must be very sophisticated and important. Not that it isn't. It works very well. But I will forever think of it as "the other system"-- not the "original" one, the Dewey Decimal System. It was sort of a shock to learn that there might be more than one way to organize all those books by numbers. It was an early realization that numbers are arbitrary, as are our organizational systems (in some sense; certainly some work better than others).
The San Jose Library is not just a walk down memory lane, however. New features abound. It has a coffee shop on the first floor that serves sushi, espresso, smoothies, and nachos. It has security guards posted at the exits who actually search people when they set off the alarm. It has an entire section devoted to bilingual children's literature (in California, "bilingual" usually means "English/Spanish," as if those are the only two languages. This is ironic given the vast Asian popuation, but Spanish is indeed the largest single non-English language in the area).
My favorite part of the library is the giant LED display that is counting, incrementing up by one unit every few seconds. It was in the tens of millions when I saw it. What could it be counting? I speculated a bit-- babies born? Books checked out? Actually, it's fairly mundane-- it's the number of people who have gone through the electronic turnstile to enter the library.
Or perhaps it's not so mundane. So many people have come to the library! Many are students, of course, seeking a quiet place to study. But that is a key function of the library in our loud, fast world: it provides a respite from activity and stimulation. In fact, that may be just as important as the books themselves.
NetFlix for books? Actually, the library is much more. Rediscover the one near you!
It's called the library.
OK, so they don't deliver (unless you've got a Bookmobile, and it stops close by). But you can't beat the monthly rate! "Free" is far cheaper than NetFlix.
I have recently begun taking books out of the library rather than buying them from Amazon, Powells, or something similar. In fact, I even sold a bunch of books-- my old sci-fi collection, back from the high school/college days when I read sci-fi. That seemed to represent an earlier stage of my life, and I have a longstanding pattern of erasing my past behind me (perhaps I'll muse on that more someday).
My shelves were cluttered with stuff that was just sitting there, and I thought, Why? Why buy books to put on a shelf? Sometimes I lend or give them to people, and very occasionally I look something up or even reread a book. But mostly they just sit there. I don't care about using them to impress people, so I might as well just get them from the library.
Ah, the library! The San Jose Public Library is a wonderful thing. The main branch is also the library for San Jose State University, so it is very well stocked: about 8 floors of books on all manner of subjects, from Etruscan history to cell biology to Chinese politics. The architecture is stunning also, giving the sense of physical spaciousness, which couples nicely with spaciousness of thought.
There are many satellite branches too, spread around the community. I even checked out a book from one recently because it was already borrowed from the main branch. The satellites are much more like local libraries. The Calabazas branch looks like a converted house, with one floor of creaking shelves, a cute play area for kids, a few computer terminals, and-- yes-- a paper card catalogue.
Remember the card catalogue? I remember from elementary school. When I started using it, I wasn't even tall enough to peep over the edge of the top drawer of index cards. Everything was filed by the Dewey Decimal System, for which there was a huge chart hung on the wall. I used to study that chart, fascinated that you could organize books by numbers. I wondered if they would ever run out. Not yet, apparently-- the Calabazas branch actually still uses the Dewey Decimal System to file its books.
Of course, large libraries (and many small ones now) use the Library of Congress system. It sounds a lot more impressive, doesn't it? Oh, this is the system they use at the Library of Congress-- it must be very sophisticated and important. Not that it isn't. It works very well. But I will forever think of it as "the other system"-- not the "original" one, the Dewey Decimal System. It was sort of a shock to learn that there might be more than one way to organize all those books by numbers. It was an early realization that numbers are arbitrary, as are our organizational systems (in some sense; certainly some work better than others).
The San Jose Library is not just a walk down memory lane, however. New features abound. It has a coffee shop on the first floor that serves sushi, espresso, smoothies, and nachos. It has security guards posted at the exits who actually search people when they set off the alarm. It has an entire section devoted to bilingual children's literature (in California, "bilingual" usually means "English/Spanish," as if those are the only two languages. This is ironic given the vast Asian popuation, but Spanish is indeed the largest single non-English language in the area).
My favorite part of the library is the giant LED display that is counting, incrementing up by one unit every few seconds. It was in the tens of millions when I saw it. What could it be counting? I speculated a bit-- babies born? Books checked out? Actually, it's fairly mundane-- it's the number of people who have gone through the electronic turnstile to enter the library.
Or perhaps it's not so mundane. So many people have come to the library! Many are students, of course, seeking a quiet place to study. But that is a key function of the library in our loud, fast world: it provides a respite from activity and stimulation. In fact, that may be just as important as the books themselves.
NetFlix for books? Actually, the library is much more. Rediscover the one near you!
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