Becoming a Library Kid again.
One of my goals this year is to become a Library Kid again.
Growing up, I went to local public libraries constantly. I was extra familiar with the fantastic kid and YA sections. Then, somewhere along the way, the library stopped being part of my life. I have a lot of goals this year, and reconnecting with the library is one of the goals I’m most excited about.
Why I stopped going to the library
The main reason - fees. I was basically a library kid from birth, and it was absolutely my favorite place to go. I have the fondest of childhood and teenage memories from time spent at all the local libraries - picking my own books, going to storytime, checking out the microfiche, taking a poetry workshop.
Fees as a broke college student and extra broke young adult (eating Cup Noodles in the apartment you pay rent for is a lot different than eating it in your dorm) were anxiety inducing. There are many reasons why someone might be late returning a book - and it’s rarely malicious. I don’t think most people walk into a library intending to steal a book. Life gets in the way, it’s misplaced and forgotten, etc etc. For me, I’d get depressed and returning books, especially if I hadn’t read them yet (which made me feel bad enough), was just something I couldn’t do sometimes. And then I’d get a fee and feel even worse.
I’m thrilled that so many libraries have changed their policies in the time I’ve been gone and have some version of a no-fee situation. And many also have automatic renewals.
Then, where there was a point when I could have returned to library life: I had been laid off (first and only time, knock on wood) and living close to my two favorite libraries. Ample free time plus less disposable income, hello library! But a few months later…COVID. Now, a normal person was probably loving all the library reading they could do during COVID. I, a serious germaphobe, had zero interest in handling a book that was previously handled by an untold number of strangers. In fact, I’ve only been on public transportation three times since 2020 - and all three times were when I was out of town (and two of those times were out of the country). Maybe getting over that is a goal for 2027.
And really, that’s it. I’ve pined after the library like it was a long lost lover for almost 20 years. I follow all the hilarious accounts from around the country, I make donations. For a while, I was a member of Los Angeles Public Library’s “Young Literati” - and at that point I hadn’t checked out a library book in almost a decade. I’ve wanted to go back soooooooo badly all this time. And then I saw a social media post that gave me a fun reason to go back.
What I’m doing to become a Library Kid again
Taking part in a library card challenge - I saw a post on Instagram where a young woman wanted to collect as many library cards as she could from around California. Not only did this sound like a fantastic and fun idea, but simply having a card helps support your library. So, even if you check things out rarely, or not at all, it’s really easy to support the library by having a card/account. I’ve collected four cards so far.
Actually checking out books from the library - my god, do I spend a lot of money on books! And it’s not that I regret it but I just…own a heck of a lot of books. I’m not setting myself up for failure by doing a “no buy,” BUT if my gut tells me a book is a one and done or something I might not enjoy, I’ve tasked myself with checking it out from the library first. I can always buy it if I end up loving it.
First library books in almost 20 years.
Utilizing the library for more than checking out books - Libraries have so many activities going on. I’ve known always known this. In middle school, I took a multi-week poetry writing class and we had an event at the library where we did a poetry reading - they even printed up a little booklet of our poems - I’m sure I still have it somewhere. In elementary school (probably), I went to another local library where they were doing a class about Armenian food and I learned how to make dolmas! (I thought they tasted horrible then…but I love them now). And the libraries, at least in my area, show no signs of changing. At the four libraries I’ve been to so far, I picked up flyers and signed up for newsletters and I’m already overwhelmed at the list of events - book clubs, craft clubs, spice packs, seed packs, book sales (of course), movie screenings. If I wanted to, I could fill my entire social calendar with local library events.
Seed Library at South Pasadena Public Library
How it’s going
Toward the end of January, I got my first four library cards and it was pretty thrilling. I don’t know how it feels if you’re not a book person, but as a book person, unlocking access to thousands of free books is kind of awe inspiring.
I immediately checked out 8 books and 2 DVDs from one library, hit the permanent bookstore at another library and scored over 10 books for about $7.50. And then with the guilt of walking in just to take a free book my city library was giving away (there’s something to talk about in therapy…), I ended up browsing the New Books shelf my closest branch and checked out another small stack there. I walked out with that, and the free book.
So far, I’ve returned two books and two movies and I’m in the middle of my third library book. This one is non-fiction and I’m already hitting resistance and remembering another one of the reasons I slipped away from the library all those years ago - I can’t write in the books or leave my flags in. It’s super rare I’d write in a book anyway (I’m the type of reader who likes to leave the book looking as good as possible). Now that transparent sticky notes exist, that’s my new thing. But when I’m reading non-fiction - good non-fiction - there’s ALWAYS something I want to highlight/underline/flag/come back to.
Even though I’m starting a commonplace book, it will slow my reading down significantly to stop and handwrite all the meaningful quotes and nuggets I come across. I even took this particular book with me out of the house and didn’t have sticky notes with me, so when I got home, I already had the homework of going back over all the pages I read to add flags. And then what? Take all my flags out?!?
It’s not a true library problem - the same thing happened to me in January when I started two fantastic non-fiction books on audiobook - I wanted to highlight the heck out of them, but couldn’t. So I stopped listening and bought the print copies so that I can at least read and listen simultaneously.
Two chapters in and this book is really nailing what I view about life, so my first thought was “I should have bought it.” That said, I had never even heard of this book until I saw it displayed at the library - it’s like it was put there just for me - so in and of itself, the library is a great source of exposure to new books (and less expensive than a similar “exploratory” trip to the bookstore).
Currently reading and furiously jotting down notes from this one.
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Today’s reading experience was a quick reminder of the time in my life when suddenly my book buying shot up and my library usage plummeted. It aligned with me fully being an adult and having (a tiny bit of) adult money to spend on books. I had also started my business in my early 20s, bought a lot of business books and I wanted to own them so that I could annotate, fill in the any workbook portions, share them with colleagues, etc. It just became easier to buy than borrow. And buying, for better or worse, meant reading on my own schedule. I never had a “TBR” when my books were mostly borrowed. I read them and returned them (when I wasn’t horribly depressed). But during times of deep depression in college, I returned books late and had fines so high, I stopped going. If I was going to spend money, I might as well own the book.
I’m sure I’ll be making updates of my library adventures as the year progresses. So many great things have happened in the less than two months since I got that first card. The adventures may not all live here on the blog, so if you want to follow along or share any of your own library love, you can also find me over on Threads and Instagram.