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Libraries

B

b52bob

Charter Member
I used to love going to libraries.

Here's my recent expirience at the Phoenix library:

Kids running around playing tag and yelling.
Babies all over the place crying and screaming.
Lines of homeless people waiting to get in
Rest rooms filthy and stinky
Homeless people lined up to take showers in the sink.
Pee and torn up toilet paper in the rest rooms
and it goes on and on......

What ever happened to the quiet place that a person could sit down and read a book. Guess I'm getting old and crochety but at least I may get a discount on a new plane!

Bob
 
Same just about everywhere I go as well. I travel a lot now and spend some time in libraries when I can't get wireless in cheap m/hotels I stay at.

I hate to say it, but the homeless constitute most of the problems. They respect nothing and often tie up washrooms forever washing both themselves and their clothes. God only knows what they leave behind........
 
I remember going to the Library as a kid on Saturdays, and coming home with a small pile of books. The Library was QUIET, cool on a hot day ( all the stone and concrete of the impressive building ), and oozed an adult atmosphere... you were expected to act in an adult manner. That was the late 50's and early 60's. I rejoice that I was lucky enough to have that childhood experience. I mourn for the loss, and I mourn for the poor homeless as well. Dick
 
Hey All,

I used to love going to the library as a kid - so many good books. How well I remember sitting in a corner reading one Hardy Boys book after another.

A couple months ago I was looking at some old books I have carried around with me and found one I checked out in 1973 and uh somehow it never got returned as we moved to another state. :icon_lol:

-Ed-
 
Easy Ed,
I just saw a guy come to your house with a bill for $17,932!
B52Bob,
Luckily, my local library is still a decent place to go to. Some bums on the lawns, but they stay there. Some of the computer users look scary, but harmless (so far).
Best of all is their extensive Jane's ref collection.
 
im not going to turn this political...but if it werent for a certin california actor turned govner turned president who closed all the mental institues first in cal and then nationwide,,the homeless situation wouldnt have gotten so bad...and now theyre talking about killing off the socieal security program ? SSA/SSI/SSD millions of new homeless will be on the streets including ME!
 
Daveroo said:
im not going to turn this political...but if it werent for a certin california actor turned govner turned president who closed all the mental institues first in cal and then nationwide,,the homeless situation wouldnt have gotten so bad...and now theyre talking about killing off the socieal security program ? SSA/SSI/SSD millions of new homeless will be on the streets including ME!
Click to expand...

I'm so glad you're not taking it political.
 
We all know where this is probably going. It's probably not a good idea to pretend something isn't political when it actuality it is.

Enough said.
 
Always been like that, to an extent, in London at least; public libraries, with their warm, dry reading rooms, are (and probably always will be) a favoured haunt for down & outs - been like that since I was a kid and likely before I was born.
 
rhumbaflappy said:
I remember going to the Library as a kid on Saturdays, and coming home with a small pile of books. The Library was QUIET, cool on a hot day ( all the stone and concrete of the impressive building ), and oozed an adult atmosphere... you were expected to act in an adult manner. That was the late 50's and early 60's. I rejoice that I was lucky enough to have that childhood experience. I mourn for the loss, and I mourn for the poor homeless as well. Dick
Click to expand...

Same here. Every Saturday afternoon would find me at our library branch since it was within bike riding distance. Later as a teenager, I rode the bus downtown and came back with a pot load of books. Today, I have NO idea how I got them all home. BTW they were all aviation related.

Bob
 
EasyEd said:
Hey All,

I used to love going to the library as a kid - so many good books. How well I remember sitting in a corner reading one Hardy Boys book after another.

A couple months ago I was looking at some old books I have carried around with me and found one I checked out in 1973 and uh somehow it never got returned as we moved to another state. :icon_lol:

-Ed-
Click to expand...
When I was younger (lol), during one summer, I read the entire Hardy Boys series my library had - over 100 books. I checked them out 10 at a time and gobbled them up.o
One of the things I loved about my home libeprary was the smell. I love the smell of paper on a book.
 
...Fortunately,....in my neck of the woods the locals libraries are still highly monitored without the bedlam that many current libraries have to deal with. In fact, the one library 6 blocks from the house has a lower level,....read that 'basement'....exclusively set up for the youngsters. The rug rats can make all the noise they want down there. That's if it's allowed.......

 
I too have always loved libraries. I guess that's why I married a teacher specializing in reading! Both our kids are avid readers and much of that interest no doubt came from our visits to the library and the adventures that we found in the books there.

I live farily far out from the closest large city, so I haven't noticed the problem with my local branch library. My sympathies to those of you suffering the problems mentioned.

On a sad note, I just went to the local Borders book store yesterday with the wife and daughter. What a shame that the company is going out of business. I guess technology may just put the printed page out of circulation at sometime down the road. At any rate, we found several books at half price while there.

Cyber,

Be sure to visit the base library there at Fort Hood. Military libraries have a great selection of books of interest to soldiers.
 
Jagdflieger said:
On a sad note, I just went to the local Borders book store yesterday with the wife and daughter. What a shame that the company is going out of business. I guess technology may just put the printed page out of circulation at sometime down the road. At any rate, we found several books at half price while there.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's just me but it seems like there are fewer and fewer authors these days and of those there are, many of them seem to write the same themes (how many variations of the Di Vinci Code has then been now) and some of the older author's books are now (poorly) written by ghost writers.

I'm of the opinion "reading", like "writing", is a dying art form; replaced by reality TV and texting.
 
I'm a purist. Electronic readers are great for convinience and all, but I love the tactile feel of turning a page, the crinkle of the paper and binding... Electronic is just too sterile.

My home library services a town of less than 1000. We dont have a homeless problem and I love our library. Very well kept.
 
CybrSlydr said:
When I was younger (lol), during one summer, I read the entire Hardy Boys series my library had - over 100 books. I checked them out 10 at a time and gobbled them up.o
One of the things I loved about my home libeprary was the smell. I love the smell of paper on a book.
Click to expand...

Hardy Boys never held a candle to Nancy Drew ::chuckles:: yeahh, I miss the old Carnegie libraries too.. They were a bit intimidating, but you could always find such wonderful things to fill your mind with..
 
Come now, warchild, I was a BOY, only GIRLS with cooties read Nancy Drew. I mean, seriously, Nancy or FRANK and JOE? :D

In an effort at clarifying, I read The Hardy Boys Casefiles.
 
Andrew Carnegie

Nice recal Pam.

Andrew Carnegie, an early captain of industry and steel tycoon, donated the money to build over 1,600 libraries in the United States. What an enduring legacy from a man born to near poverty!

Some of my favorite books from youth were:

Away all Boats.
HMS Ulysis
The Compass Rose
Helmet for my Pillow
With the Old Breed
The Four Feathers
Devils in Baggy Pants
The Hurtgen Forrest
A Time to Love, A Time to Die (Best read in German)
Im Westen, Nicht Neues or All Quiet on the Western Front (again, best read in German)

I guess from that list you can see where I was headed in life...

Oh, and do you guys remember the big cabinets holding the card indexes? The computer data base in now faster and easier, but just doesn't have the class of those old oak filing cabinets that were so carefully attended by the librarians.
 
I read the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, Jules Verne, HG wells ::sigh:: miss those types of moments. We never had Biggles over here though, so i never met him till this really bad movie came out.. Since then, he's been on my list of books to read, even if he IS for young English Lads..
:)
 
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