Library Love Affair

People complain about a lot of things. But one thing that really bothers me is when people complain about reading. Not having enough time. Not finding books they like. Books being expensive. Blah Blah Blah. End rant.Reading is an incredibly magical thing. It makes you smarter. It excersizes your imagination. Its educates. It inspires. It is relaxing. It is intriguing. It is just all around good for your mind, body and spirit. All doctors recommend it. Seriously.I've always loved to read  and I understand it is hard for some people to actually read and to find time and connect to a book. But it is so worth it. Reading doesn't have to be a huge activity in someone's life. It can be a 5 minute a day thing, Jeez there are entire books you can read in 5 minutes. The important that is that you are reading. And I'm talking to you, grown up people. There are teachers and programs promoting childhood/youth literacy, but people think that once they are a grown up they never have to read again. Wrong. You get to read. You get to read the things YOU choose. I just feel so bad for these people who didn't fall in love with a book or genre or author or feeling they found in reading as a child and now they view reading as work or as punishment. I was one of the lucky ones who had a love for reading hard-wired in.But, I am here to tell you there is hope! I have fallen in love. I am having a saucy affair actually. With the Library. Every town has one. They are free. Everyone is welcome. Your tax dollars pay for it. So why aren't you using it? There are thousands and thousands of books just sitting on shelves waiting for you. There are even DVDs for free.I have a system. I keep a note on my phone of books that I am interested in. So anytime I come across one online or someone recommends it or I spot it in a bookstore as a bestseller, etc, I jot it down. Then, I go online to my local library and look up all the books. The beautiful thing about libraries is that not only do they have a selection of books, but they are connected with other libraries that have even larger selections of books. So, if my library doesn't have the book I'm looking for (which it honestly rarely does), I just search the entire state of Georgia's libraries shelves with the click of a button. Then I request it. Thats it. For free, that library will ship it to my library. After I've made all my requests for my library and the others, all my books will be collected and put right by the front door with my name on them and I receive an email. I park, grab my  books, check out and leave. I literally have a stack of free books in my hand in less than 3 minutes.This method is for people who know what they are looking for. People on a mission. People without time. This entire process only takes minutes. You can do it from your phone in line at the grocery store.If you are a browser, well hello, you are already at the library. But, if you don't know what you like. There are these people called librarians, who know all about all kinds of books and you will literally make them the happiest people in the world if you ask for suggestions. But there are also tons of ways to find book suggestions for you. My library has an online portal where you can choose topics, categories, etc and it will make suggestions for you. Then there are tons of sights online that constantly curate lists of books. So do some googling, like 'books for men who like adventure' or 'cat lovers' or 'mysteries about people who have disappeared in the northwest' or 'adventures including a rock collector and a mouse in Paris'. Not sure about that last one, but you get the point: be specific about what interests you.  No matter what your preference there are books for you out there. And I dream about the day when everyone is a reader. Whether it is fiction, biographies, self-help, whatever; when you read you get to visit somewhere you've never been, learn something, meet new people or just relax and disappear from your stressful life.So, go to the library. Whether you make a quick pick up, browse for hours or sit in the comfy chairs and read or study. Go to the library. It is a magical place. It is quiet and intriguing. It is a great place to people watch. The colors and words and artwork are creative gold.

I'm having a saucy love affair with my library, are you?

This post is a part of the National Blog Posting Month Challenge. You can see a list of more blogs participating in this challenge here and see a full list of my posts here.