Got a library card after 20 years and it completely shifted my reading habits

I walked into the public library downtown last Tuesday to return a book for my daughter and ended up leaving with three books for myself. For years I told myself I was too busy to bother with library browsing and just bought whatever was on sale at Barnes and Noble. But seeing the sheer variety of recent releases and older classics sitting on those shelves made me realize I had been limiting my choices for no good reason. The librarian even showed me how to place holds online for new arrivals. Has anyone else rediscovered their local library lately and found it changed how they pick what to read?

2 comments

2 Comments

susana661mo ago

Oh my goodness, I had the exact same thing happen to me last spring! I walked in to pick up a tax form and came out with a stack of books so tall my husband asked if I was opening a small library in our spare room. I used to think I was somehow supporting the publishing industry by buying everything full price, but now I realize I was just being dramatic about not having time to browse. I found a 1980s cookbook that had handwritten notes in the margins from someone named Gladys, and it felt like finding buried treasure. My wallet is definitely happier, though my nightstand is now officially a hazard zone.

the_lucas1mo ago

The Gladys cookbook thing is exactly what keeps me going back honestly. I found a paperback from 1975 with someone's scribbled math problems in the margins and it felt like peeking into a stranger's life. My record is walking out with 14 books for like eight bucks one time. That's less than a single new hardcover costs now. The nightstand hazard zone is real though. I've started stacking books on the floor next to my bed and my partner says it's a fire waiting to happen. But I can't stop.