Library Carded

2003-07-24 - 4:10 p.m.

I actually did get a library card, my first one in about 8 years or something. Yay me! I ended up checking out a book on Haida myths and storytelling which looks to be really interesting.

I'm a little wary of the library, unfortunately. I'm a big supporter of libraries in general (in theory, I might say). I like the fact that knowledge and enjoyment are so easily available to those who can't afford to buy books or internet connections, and it's reassuring to know that we have a branch that's not even a two minutes' walk from home.

But libraries and I don't mix. For one thing, I'm possessive of my books. If I enjoyed reading a story, I'm likely to want to read it again, on some random day, for no good reason...and those sorts of whims don't lend themselves well to actually having to leave the house to have them satisfied.

Also, I like being able to be careless with my books. When I was younger, I would dog-ear pages to save my place (I stopped after a friend witnessed this and lectured me for a steady ten minutes about how awful I was. Dog-earing, apparently, is quite close to being a minion of Satan). Even today, I'll leave books open and face down if I have to do something else, destroying their spine. I carry them everywhere in my backpack, so inevitably any book in my possession will get wet, torn, battered, or bruised. And, of course, there's the Anti-lit Demon Cat, who will not balk at eating someone else's literature. He's not picky in his appetites.

Having a battered, torn, ruined book is no matter to me, so long as the story's still legible, but if the book belongs to someone else, I do end up feeling bad if I've damaged it. And, if I recall, libraries make you pay for ruined books.

Which brings us to the next reason why the Magus and libraries do not mix: fines. I have not, in my entire life, ever, ever, ever returned a book on time. I see no reason why only being a short walk from the book return drop-box would change this. As it is, I'm reading a book that Pookie borrowed, and my sluggishness to get through it means that he's got about $2 in fines for that text alone. Libraries cost me money. A lot of money.

Come to think of it, I think I still have books that are due at the library in Halifax...but we'll just keep that under our hats for a while, 'kay?

The good thing about libraries is that I will have the ability to do some research for my writing, and searching the web isn't always reliable.

Maybe now that I'm in my late twenties, I can retrain myself.

Cheers,

The Magus

PS: My banners are approved, so the next entry will likely have a description of some regular people, characters, and caricatures, just in case I get any new readers...

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