What a real library was like.

Firstly there was a nerdy lady ... not sure if everyone looked "nerdy" at my age, or if it went with the job requirements.

But you returned your books, and she went through the little yellow cards.
You could see her fingers moving brother.

Anything specialized you had to go to a wooden box.
And then you had to pull out an alphabetical drawer, and you hoped you'd find your book.

Then you took it back to the lady
while fingers
browsed
in fields of gold.

a reply to: halfoldman

Yup.
Now I put # on hold over the net and go pick them up. Super awesome not having to use that card catalog

a reply to: halfoldman

Libraries are awesome. The internet is awesome too, but I still love books. When we moved states, I got my new library card before my driver's license! I worked in the library during junior high and high school. I loved it!

My kids knew about the Dewey Decimal System -- and how to look up books -- before they even started school. They could get any books they wanted, but half had to be non-fiction. I was determined that my kids would not only know how to read (this was back in the "Johnny can't read" days), they would know how to research and learn anything they wanted to know. They loved "library day."

Yes, libraries are the best.

a reply to: Boadicea

We are at the library a couple times a week still

I just recall taking out books, and she had to pull that blue card out of the book (I suppose it's like dudes and balls - all library books had them), and then she had to attach that to another card.

And when you returned the book, they had to browse through the entire alphabet!

A bit silly though, because your catalogue becomes just as huge, if not bigger, than the library.

But still, you got personal attention at the library!

Alas, now just get it at the barber shop.

The Tipsy librarian ...
Lady can you recite the alphabet?

You want it forwards, backwards or sideways occifer?

Oh goodness, and you weren't allowed to talk!

In those days people went blind when a mouse went running by.

And yet, most marriages, where did they start"

Whisper: I got an essay on Masters and Johnson.
Really? I got an essay on Freud.
Groovy, let's get together and analyze ...

The Librarian: If I hear you two whispering sweet nothings one more time, you are banned from this Library!

a reply to: halfoldman

Children's hour and old book smell...
Nothing else quite like that smell. It said, "Adventure awaits".

originally posted by: halfoldman
I just recall taking out books, and she had to pull that blue card out of the book (I suppose it's like dudes and balls - all library books had them), and then she had to attach that to another card.

A card and pocket system. She just had to write your library card number on the blue card and file it in "the bin."

And when you returned the book, they had to browse through the entire alphabet!

Since they were filed in order, all you had to do is go to the right place in the bin. A few seconds is all it took. It was like a dictionary. No need to browse the whole thing to find a word.

A bit silly though, because your catalogue becomes just as huge, if not bigger, than the library.

Never seen that happen. Books are a lot bigger than 3 x 5 cards. The only cards filed in the bin were those which were checked out. The catalog itself, where you look up the books, has about five cards per book--still not very big. Alas, we have adults now who have never seen a card catalog. Automation of most libraries with "OPACs" (Online Public Access Catalogs) was largely completed by the end of the 1980's.

But still, you got personal attention at the library!

And you still can. If you are having trouble finding what you want, just ask a librarian on duty.

The library today, tomorrow you push a pram
Push away alone - I belong to Uncle Sam.

What if I don't wanna go?

They'll take you anyway.
Got no alarm, they haven't invented the beep.

Hold it to your heart, while they are asleep.

I ocassionally visit the reference section at my local library and read boxes of 200+ year old local newspapers to imagine life back then. I am a bit of a geek for it, I can spend hours reading about times past.
Probably goes back to my days as a homeless 16 year old. After getting a shower at the bus station toilets, then looking for work at the job centre, I'd just immerse myself into local history at the library all day...it was dry and warm lol.

Gender Equality?

Your job is a
dumpling in the gravy

While I'm sold
into male slavery.

If I come back
My words are just spam
Because your palace ain't a house
And I'm not a real man.

a reply to: halfoldman

I love libraries as well. Went a couple weeks ago to the local neighborhood branch and was very surprised to find it not just crowded but over crowded.

Its not a small place by any means, just very busy. I especially love the smell of books so libraries are just special places. Hopefully we will continue the tradition in one form or another.

My favorite library is the main branch of the San Francisco public library. It is gigantic. I’ve found so many books there I’ve never seen anywhere else. Their rare book room is incredible.

Plus, free computers and internet. Which is great if you’re just walking from one end of the country to the other and need a way to get in touch with people.

And so it starts with a book.

You got something on boxing?

Because I lost my right hook.

This is freedom before you
Freedom sublime

Every man needs a library
In his spare time.

Yep, libraries and old bookstores. I especially like the old Carnegie libraries. There were as many as 164 in Indiana and of those, they're almost all still standing and about half are still used as libraries. They're marvelous old structures, full of nostalgia.

a reply to: yeahright

Old book stores yes!
The smell is fantastic.
When I was at uni I spent as much time in the library as I did in the students union bar drinking and partying.
I loved studying in the library, it's like the temple of education to me.

They made me read the bible, when I was just young.

Then I read Freud and the Freud won.

What I couldn't handle was you take out books on indigenous and "primitive" peoples.

And then half a page is missing.

And I wish I could meet the vandal who did that ...

But it was the state.

They literally paid people to sit there and cut pics out of a book.

Before algorithms censors had scissors!

I miss the old card catalogs. If you know how they work, Dewey Decimal System, a set of cards for subject and one for authors; it is so much faster than looking up something on a computer. I've tested this with friends; given some random topic or book, I'm off to the shelves while their still typing, or scanning through results. There is a bit of a learning curve to using and understanding them, but then so is there with using the computer system to do the same thing.

The scariest thing I've read lately was that libraries are getting rid of a lot of their books, (going to trash for burning!), and closing branches all because less people are using them and most books and info. is now digitized and available on the internet. What happens if we lose power for whatever reason for an extended period of time? So much info. and knowledge could be lost.