Monday, October 27, 2008

There are libraries and then there are libraries

Where we live, there are libraries running under two separate library systems (i.e. no trading books back and forth). The big library downtown is under a different system from the library that's closer to us--the point being, we don't get to use that system as much because it's hard for us to get down there.

But when we do...we fully appreciate how much this library has held on to that other libraries either never had, or have discarded. (Even WITH the big booksales every year.) After the library sale yesterday, we went upstairs to the children's room and borrowed some of the books that we don't usually get to read.

The library closer to us has All of a Kind Family. The downtown library has all the sequels.

The library closer to us has The Moffats, Rufus M., and I think Ginger Pye (we just finished reading our own copy of that). (We're on an Eleanor Estes kick right now.) The downtown library has The Middle Moffat, The Moffat Museum, and Pinky Pye.

The downtown library has Rumer Godden's Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, and the sequel.

And so on.

How they've managed to hang onto all of this stuff, AND find room for The Tiara Club books (I'm not joking--I didn't even know there were such things), I don't know. But I'm grateful.

3 comments:

Sebastian said...

I have to confess that there are a few books that I will order in our library system just to make sure that they are being used. I hate to see a great book in the catalog and find that it hasn't been read in a decade.
I remember how much glee one of my friends had over getting her library to pull the Henty books our of storage for her family. (At least this library still had a storage and hadn't just jetisoned the books entirely).

Mama Squirrel said...

I tried that with Marshall's Our Island Story--took it out a couple of times a year, and we really did use it too--but it disappeared from the shelf anyway. I had even asked previously if they could let me know if and when they decided to get rid of it--but they said that wasn't their policy.

Jacqueline said...

Totally understand the difference in libraries. We make a special trip out of town every month to visit the bigger library.