Monday, September 11, 2006
The Unbearable Sadism of Libraries
Hi...I'm Ben and I'm a recovering bibliophile. (Hi, Ben.) I say that I'm recovering because of while preparing for my move to graduate school, I forced myself to cull a solid chunk of the books from my personal collection. Although it was tough to decide which books to keep and which to donate, sell, or otherwise dispose of, I figured it was for the best in a situation like mine. After all, I have just enough space on the bookshelf in my room for the volumes that survived the purge, plus a smaller empty shelf reserved for books purchased in connection with my program.
But I am still interested in reading new books, and consequently I made a beeline for the local public library as soon as possible to obtain my local library card. This was rather easy since it is only a few blocks from my new home. And damned if it wasn't an impressive place. 3 floors, an in-house coffee shop, and a huge array of multimedia material, especially DVDs. The only major deficiency was the lack of a good science-fiction section, but I'm willing to overlook that thanks to the magic of interlibrary loans.
Honestly the whole thing went without a hitch...until I read the library subscription materials. Consider the following loan periods:
Most books and audiobooks 3 weeks
New books for adults, music CDs 2 weeks
Nonfiction videos and DVDs, children's videos, CD-ROMS 1 week
Feature videos and DVDs 1 day
Yes...that's right.
You want to check out a DVD? You have a total of 24 hours to watch it and return it. That includes box sets of television programs. If I want to check out the new season of 24 on DVD, I'd have to watch it in REAL TIME! It's madness...madness! Even big city libraries let you take out DVD's for a week.
But then big city libraries don't make you PAY TO TAKE OUT MATERIAL!
That's right.
I forgot to mention the fine print under the last two items above.
"$1 fee at checkout"
Yes...you have to PAY to check out DVD's!
Does anyone else think this undermines the fundamental purpose of a library, i.e. the free distribution of culturally relevant materials for public consumption? Paying a fee? If I have to pay for my DVD's, the very least they can do is give me more than a day to watch them. I'd probably do just as well to join NetFlix or one of its affiliates. However, that of course assumes that I'll be able to watch a lot of films once classes start. Since orientation is tomorrow, I guess I'll find out soon.
Oh...and for those who care, yes, I do remember where I was five years ago today. Do you?
Hi...I'm Ben and I'm a recovering bibliophile. (Hi, Ben.) I say that I'm recovering because of while preparing for my move to graduate school, I forced myself to cull a solid chunk of the books from my personal collection. Although it was tough to decide which books to keep and which to donate, sell, or otherwise dispose of, I figured it was for the best in a situation like mine. After all, I have just enough space on the bookshelf in my room for the volumes that survived the purge, plus a smaller empty shelf reserved for books purchased in connection with my program.
But I am still interested in reading new books, and consequently I made a beeline for the local public library as soon as possible to obtain my local library card. This was rather easy since it is only a few blocks from my new home. And damned if it wasn't an impressive place. 3 floors, an in-house coffee shop, and a huge array of multimedia material, especially DVDs. The only major deficiency was the lack of a good science-fiction section, but I'm willing to overlook that thanks to the magic of interlibrary loans.
Honestly the whole thing went without a hitch...until I read the library subscription materials. Consider the following loan periods:
Most books and audiobooks 3 weeks
New books for adults, music CDs 2 weeks
Nonfiction videos and DVDs, children's videos, CD-ROMS 1 week
Feature videos and DVDs 1 day
Yes...that's right.
You want to check out a DVD? You have a total of 24 hours to watch it and return it. That includes box sets of television programs. If I want to check out the new season of 24 on DVD, I'd have to watch it in REAL TIME! It's madness...madness! Even big city libraries let you take out DVD's for a week.
But then big city libraries don't make you PAY TO TAKE OUT MATERIAL!
That's right.
I forgot to mention the fine print under the last two items above.
"$1 fee at checkout"
Yes...you have to PAY to check out DVD's!
Does anyone else think this undermines the fundamental purpose of a library, i.e. the free distribution of culturally relevant materials for public consumption? Paying a fee? If I have to pay for my DVD's, the very least they can do is give me more than a day to watch them. I'd probably do just as well to join NetFlix or one of its affiliates. However, that of course assumes that I'll be able to watch a lot of films once classes start. Since orientation is tomorrow, I guess I'll find out soon.
Oh...and for those who care, yes, I do remember where I was five years ago today. Do you?
