In Praise of Public Libraries
For the past few years, I've been reading books a lot more. I found that if I keep a decent sized backlog of books that seem interesting and are varied enough, I feel like reading more often. But that's an expensive hobby to keep. So besides buying, I've also been borrowing from friends, exchanging and pirating books.
Now, some particular books I want to read are hard to get. Sometimes they are no longer for sale, or don't work well on eReaders. Niche ones like art books, which can get quite expensive too. Then I remembered to search to see if my local library had its catalog online, and of course it has. So I got a library card for the first time in my life, and now I'm borrowing 3-4 books per month. For some of those books, I'm the first person taking them home. So in a small part, I'm also preventing those particular books of being decommissioned in the future.
So here's my praise for public libraries. Great for keeping your book budget lower, and getting access to hard-to-find or out-of-sale books. Plus, one of the few remaining places where you can spend time indoors without having to buy anything.
