I love my library. Actually I love ALL libraries, but mine is special.
E.K.McClatchy Library
The E.K. McClatchy Library is a couple blocks from my house and I go there at least once a week. At certain times during the year {hello summer break!}, you can find me there several times a week:
I go to read magazines
To pickup my reserved books, music and DVDs {I’ve always got 30 items checked out}
I read the latest picture books so I know what to check out for my class
Occasionally I’ll just hang out enjoying their air conditioning while chatting with neighbors and friends.
I’m always running into people I know at my library.
Our branch is a true community meeting place.
Whenever I enter my library I’m always greeted with a warm smile and know that my treasures await me two shelves up from the bottom on the reserve wall.
The Sacramento Public Library has almost every book I want to read and if for some reason they don’t, they can almost always get it for me.
Yes, sometimes I have to wait to get the latest and greatest book, movie or music CD.
What, am I in a hurry here?
What surprises me is how few people I know that actually use the library. Most people I know buy their books, magazines and get their music and movies from other places.
I don’t get it.
Why would you purchase something that your tax dollars have already purchased?
Today is Library Advocacy Day. I’m advocating that you get yourself to the library.
Get a card.
Check out a book.
Read a magazine.
Use their free wi-fi.
Check out a DVD.
Meet a neighbor and make a community connection.
Want to learn how you can help preserve your library? Click here.
Tell me your favorite library story…
Teacher Goes Back to School 
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I don’t know if I’ve ever commented here before, but I’m fairly new to your blog and just HAD to join in the library love! My grandma was a librarian and I think I’ve spent more time in libraries surrounded by books than anywhere else :) I can still remember getting my very first library card when I was in Kindergarten! They took us on a field trip, marched us down to the library, and we all got cards…I thought I was SO grown up, ha :)
I’m always blown away by having so many branches…the little town I grew up in had just one itsy bitsy library!
@amanda: welcome and thank you for reading and commenting! yay new readers!
i used to take my class and then we moved too far away. although i do hold “office hours” one saturday a year and meet students there. always an amazing turnout. kids love them some libraries!
the thing i am most impressed with now is the techonology that makes it seem like it’s shopping rather than borrowing. i feel like i need to start a library card campaign.
Great idea for a post. We are so very fortunate to have libraries in the U.S., and many don’t even realize what a luxury it is. Such a service doesn’t exist in most places in the world, especially the way we can order things, request books from other libraries, etc. I love libraries, too! Can’t wait for the brand new one to open within walking distance of my house (in Aug.).
@jenna: i didn’t know that libraries are an american tradition. it seems such a universal right.
what new library????
One more thing we have in common, my dear Tami. I love libraries, too! Thank you for recognizing Library Advocacy Day. I, too, don’t understand why more people I know don’t use the library. They usually have everything I want, even in our little neighborhood branch, and if not, I can reserve it online and they send me an e-mail to tell me when I can pick it up! They also send me emails days in advance, every other day, to remind me when my stuff is due!
I get all my DVDs at the library (3 weeks til due!) — currently re-watching season 2 of Battlestar Gallactica and just watched “Up in the Air” — have at least 3-5 books checked out at any one time — mostly fiction/mysteries (reading my way through Henning Mankell’s works), some career-related, sometimes cookbooks or gardening books — and have explored lots of new music through their CD collection.
Our lovely neighborhood library http://dclibrary.org/takomapark
got a makeover two years ago, restored to its original floor plan with lovely wood trim and bright big windows. Thank you Ginny Cooper, Head Librarian, who also spearheaded that fabulous makeover of the Portland library while we lived there!
My favorite library story? My aunt, who came to this country as a child not knowing much English, eventually read her way, shelf by shelf, through their neighborhood library. Every single shelf. Every book. Not surprisingly, she got her MLS about 30 years later : )
@alicia: we’ve got to keep on our peeps about the library! i keep telling people it’s like shopping online: reserve, hold, renew. it’s brilliant!
i <3 your story about your aunt. it's absolutely brilliant! i went through most of our library as a kid as well and even thought of getting my mls at one point. i decided i could still love the library without working in one.
thanks for reading and leaving such an uplifting and thoughtful comment.
love this post! I am always advocating for the library! One more thing for your list- books on CD, a fabulous free selection and the BEST thing for commuting or road trips. Hugs!
@monica: yay libraries! we’re such teachers that way. books on CD are amazing. even for playing in class when you don’t want to do a read aloud. or sending it home with the kiddos. hugs back!