Library Enjoyers!

[Julikins]

Congrats on the library card, original poster! 

Been a big supporter of my local one since I was a wee tyke. Even the school library felt like my personal welcome place (mostly public schools though, post secondary was a bit less magical then). But even now, I still try to do whatever possible to show support for the libraries especially since our lovely government in the states are hostile to the idea of such a resource... That's a long winded vent for somewhere else. I love my Blockbuster for Books by golly!

The amounts of books and media at your disposal pays for the fees your library might of had when you registered for the card, unless it's generous similar to mine where if you have a local address it's paid for by city taxes. Best advice: see what your library offers in terms of digital access to services. Both Libby/Overdrive and Hoopla were ones I loved using before recently to check out new materials from the comfort of my home. Had a few books I had checked out and read all the way or partly with the sigh of relief knowing I had saved a bit of change compared to buying a copy for myself.

[thearistocats]

I've been getting back into the library in a major way lately. I go in and out of bouts of reading, and this time what I've started doing is finding the section for something I'm interested in and just taking out random books that appear interesting. I also wrote down the library of congress sections (my library uses LOC instead of Dewey Decimal system) for some of my current interests so I can use the library more for discovery and not just when I'm looking for a specific book.

It's so rare and beautiful to be able to gain so much and spend so much time in a place without having to pay money, I really wish more of society could be structured as such.

[candycanearter07]

I've been trying to read a bit more lately, but I've still mostly been using the library to rent movies for movie nights ^^

[Kie]

I do like the idea of a library, but I haven't really had the chance to experience it. I'm from a countryside village, so our local library is really small, and open only at pretty specific hours. I've been to it before, but they only carry children's books and very popular novels.
There is a library at my university, but it's the kind that only carries textbooks and similar materials, and you have to send in a formal request even to just browse

I have been planning to check out some public libraries in the city my uni is in! I'm worried you might have to reside in the city to be able to get a library card and borrow from them tho..

So.. so far I've ever only ever used libraries as a place to go and sit to study ^_^

[invader_gvim]

I use the library where I live to host meetings for my reading club 

There are so many books that I can order and they usually arrive in two weeks and I live in a place where the libraries don't have late fees so I just return them when I'm done.

Also one time the  director of the library came out wearing a kilt and told me how cool it was that I also read all the warhammer fantasy books. He invited me to his Warhammer Fantasy roleplay group and that's how I started roleplaying again.

I like how libraries have a lot of places to sit and reading a book in a library is a good way to relax and have fun while enjoying the people sounds sometimes. 

[alexela64]

I'm worried you might have to reside in the city to be able to get a library card and borrow from them tho..

AFAIK if you go to school there you might be able to just put in the address of your dorm/the dorm of someone you know. That's what I did when I signed up for my card and I've never had an issue.

also i'm autistic and i rly love that i can rely on there being a building in the city where i can sit down and charge my phone and ppl Have to be quiet.

HUGE second on this. Even when it's not super quiet--library means control over noise stimulation level is MUCH easier because you can often control how much quiet you want.

Even the school library felt like my personal welcome place (mostly public schools though, post secondary was a bit less magical then)

Lol this just gave me flashbacks to hiding out in the library every free period. We had a hall pass signature section in our planners and mine was full of "Library " " " " " " etc


As for me I'm a frequent library-goer since I live in a major city with well-maintained libraries. If it's not for books (which it surprisingly usually isn't) it's to get work done, get out of the house, cowork with friends, or attend community events (there's a specific library in my city that has free access to conference rooms where a lot of the local arts scene/organizers conduct meetings, iykyk)

[invader_gvim]

Lol this just gave me flashbacks to hiding out in the library every free period. We had a hall pass signature section in our planners and mine was full of "Library " " " " " " etc

I also used to skip class in the library during highschool. I would hide behind the maze of book shelves. Though it was a rural area, the highschool I went to was overly large because it had once been the school for the entire county. When the place was built, the town was very wealthy as all the operators of the coal mines had their mansions there. Today its very very poor, which means that a lot of the school was just too expensive to be maintained. The school was also a bomb shelter during the cold war. There were places in the school which you weren't allowed to go. Anyone caught would get detention. These places were full of abandoned rooms, dusty areas, and hallways to classrooms that were always empty and locked. The paint peeled off the walls or was far too thick in other areas. It all felt very bleak and post apocalyptic.

In the library, I found a random door that was locked. I always wondered what was behind that door, since it clearly wasn't a janitors closet because it was in the middle of the wall, and had a different door knob than the closets. I ended up finding out when I was exploring the network of tunnels under the theater stage. If you slipped under the stage (I was rather thin and malnourished), then you could feel around in the  dark for a hole in the masonry. From there was the space between the walls. To get around the insulation and boards you had to crawl, but I was small enough. Once you got out of the dark, you'd emerge to an entire sealed off section filled with empty hallways, abandoned classrooms, piles of signs from 60s sports events, and random piles of dirt or collapsed furniture that had been allowed to rot. There were also a lot of dead rats down there, mostly mummified for years but not all. I climbed a ladder expecting it to just lead to the space between the floors, but it led to an office with a torn out carpet and a pile of broken chairs. Inside the office was that door. I unlocked it, and opened it to reveal the library.

For months that became my way to skip class. I would walk into the library, slip into  the abandoned office when nobody was looking, and walk around the backrooms until a class I actually liked started. They eventually locked it again, but I unlocked it and nobody subsequently noticed. 

[alexela64]

Once you got out of the dark, you'd emerge to an entire sealed off section filled with empty hallways, abandoned classrooms, piles of signs from 60s sports events, and random piles of dirt or collapsed furniture that had been allowed to rot.

That is the COOLEST thing ever. I know you said it seemed bleak but i would have KILLED to have an escape like that when i was younger. And the fact that it connected to the library just makes it even better -- I would bring books in there all the time, it sounds nice and quiet.

[invader_gvim]

That is the COOLEST thing ever. I know you said it seemed bleak but i would have KILLED to have an escape like that when i was younger. And the fact that it connected to the library just makes it even better -- I would bring books in there all the time, it sounds nice and quiet.

It had an interesting ambiance because of the silence, the dust floating in the air, the sound of small footsteps from rats, and the musky smell. It wasn't an overly bad smell to me, but I was never particularly bothered by the smell of rodents.

Parts of it didn't have any light, and other parts were illuminated by electric torches dangling off of pig tail cords, so sometimes you'd walk through darkness to the next hanging torch if you didn't have a phone. I had never thought of it before, but clearly someone was coming in here every once and a while to replace the lights, but only in certain areas, as other places were in complete darkness.

The first time I was there I was terrified of getting caught, but afterwards there was a genuinely peaceful vibe to it. At the time I fantasized about becoming friends with one of the rats, but they all avoided me and I only ever saw living ones rarely. I left food for them in the form of orange peel. When I came back the next day it was gone so I kept doing that in the hopes that they'd be my friend but it was fruitless (heh!) 

I remember this being at a time of self discovery, and I would read sad yaoi (Number 6) and cried there when the white haired guy died in the comic book. I remember doing my homework there once on a rotten desk. It was incredibly water damaged but the room it was in was bone dry. The whole place was super dry actually. There wasn't a lot of air circulation, but at the same time there was evidence of flooding of some kind because there was dried cracked dirt on the floor in certain areas which looked like it used to be mud.

[Y2KStardust]

I have been planning to check out some public libraries in the city my uni is in! I'm worried you might have to reside in the city to be able to get a library card and borrow from them tho..

So.. so far I've ever only ever used libraries as a place to go and sit to study ^_^

It depends on where you live, but I've found the opposite! Most libraries want people signed up so bad they don't care at ALL if you can never physically go there. I know people who have digital library cards for New York but live here in Australia like I do :p I'd say ask the libraries you can get to, and check out their websites! The librarians will prob. know who qualifies for a card and 99% of the time it's 'a living breathing person who can sign a form'. Sometimes they limit you a bit if you're under 18 bc they assume kids/minors can't handle fines as easily, but that's the only big caveat I've heard.

I wanna work in a library some day! I have my diploma so I'm really excited to start looking ;u;