Library card

I've written before that I don't read much. At least not books/newspapers/magazines. I actually do a lot of reading of blogs online. That's where I get most of my news.

Yesterday, I went and got a new library card from the public library. I blogged about it. And now I can check out books, CDs, DVDs, etc. from the vast catalog available. 

I think the last time I actually used a library card was more than a decade ago. But there is so much readily available online, I lived without a library card for so long. This all begs the question of what is really the future of the library? Am I actually alone in thinking that having a library card is obsolete, and anything I need to read is online? Probably not.

The reason I got one yesterday is to help Katie. She needed a reference for her students. And since I had the day off I had time to go and get the books she wanted from the library. And it wasn't that hard either. It was so easy a child could do it.

Actually maybe a child should do it. I think the libraries are a lot more relevant for students than thier adult counterparts. When I am no longer in school, I am no longer soaking up new knowledge. And if I am it's because I have to for my job. And I don't need the library. 

But children, especially those growing up in homes without a large collection of books should regularly go to the library and develop a love of reading. The younger you start, the more successful you become. 

At one point in my life I did have a love of reading, but it became such a chore to read all the required readings for classes that I stopped reading for enjoyment and only read what I had to. Even then, sometimes it was read the first and last chapter and skim the inbetween. 

My point I'm trying to get to is that once in a while your perspective changes. And that's a good thing. I have some books I need to finish reading that I started once upon a time. Maybe you do too.