Do you check out books?
 

As in from a library? I mean, it's such a quaint thing, isn't it? But moving to a podunk town has made me appreciate good libraries. I could join the big-city library 10 minutes away, but because my burb is in another counter, I'd have to cough up 65 freaking bucks a freaking year. Give me a break. So instead I'm limited to whatever this town's library, which is almost as big as my living room, can get for me. Oddly enough, I did find two of Denis Johnson's books that I've been meaning to read, but they don't carry Jesus' Son.

Shell out the 65 bucks. That reminds me, I need to pay my fine, so I won't buy them. I owe 50 by the way.

i don't have a library card in manhattan. haven't gotten off my lazy ass for that one yet.
i still have my library card here though and i figured i may as well go to the library and steal some more shit (music, DVDs)
so now i've got the entire monterrey pop festival for free. it's like $80 or something ridiculous on amazon.

I would be in heaven in a New York City library. That's a real library, there, all right.

i know. imagine all the shit i can pirate.

I can't imagine life without my library card. It wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure.

The only problem I find with libraries is that most of their CDs and DVDs are beaten to shit. Everything I've ever checked out has skipped or not played. Not even worth pirating, even if I were inclined to do so.

How is checking out a book quaint? It's not like people read novels on the interenet or something, and I'm not about to shell out $25 for a second edition hardcover. I guess you could wait around for 6 months and pay 6 bucks for the overproduced paperback?

i really should read. but i dont.
i shouldnt be as lazy as i am. but i am.

i check out books AND movies every week from a library

not bad for a shitty town-- i found out they have interlibrary loan as well

maybe check out this feature in yours?

--

ps- i thought at first i read "do you check out boobs" and YES! ALWAYS!

haha. nice selection

I haven't had a library card in years. I like owning books, and I'd rather shell out $2 and support my local used book store. it's hard for that lady to stay in business, but I do my best.

not dissin' the library, it's nice and all, but I'm really bad at returning things (which consequently is why I also use netflix instead of the local blockbuster). I'd perpetually owe late fees.

if anyone of you are in college, you'd be surprised how good their libraries are.
mine is merely a community college but they have a shitload of rare artbooks and fiction.
its pretty damn cool.

other than that, scowering Strand bookstore will make any book lover melt.

then new york city libraries are great, a mark of civilization where brutality usually holds sway. I might subscribe to a private library on 48th St, partly because it offers good books but also it offers a quiet clean place to relax, read and write in midtown.

A friend of mine argues the Strand downtown is better than the Strand on 12th St.

Libraries are one of the free world's most insanely brilliant ideas. The one thing we have truely gotten right without question. I LOVE the Library. I can walk around and pick up anything, take it home and read it. So much infomation at your fingertips. I cannot for the life of me understand why people dont use the library more.

I went out picked up Thurston Moore's book on Cassette culture, Some Franz Kafka books, a book on video art, the 'post-modern reader' and a book on Music Technology. Really what other place would offer such range utterly free?

the annex, yeah. i've never been there.
ask him how come.

not since school, and their library sucked.

i live for the library. the main branch of the houston public library has been undergoping renovatio for the better part of twi years and is scheduled to re-opne in 8 months. I CANNOT FUCKING WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

god there's some hot chicks wearing glasses readig at the library

only the hot ones

ho ho ima sooo funneh

because he can't go in without walking out with an armful!

when I went down recently to hear Paul DiFilippo and Norman Spinrad read nearby I could have done some damage but I held off. For some reason people thought I worked there and kept asking me questions which I would then answer by telling them about my favorite books. I was only in there for 10 mins and 3 people must've asked me.

They must feel the dream of owning a great bookstore radiating off me. A bookstore with a small tight selection of vinyl.

haha that would be awesome. Just don't forgetten the Cassette and 8-Track section.

the jersey library is not so bad - the fiction section has some gaps but the art, history & poetry shelves are piled up. there's a great film section with every artificial eye film on dvd but the music area is quite awful.
is it true that the government can track what books people have checked out in america?

I used to check out books quite frequently. But I stopped. I don't like to read any more.

Doesn't gmku work in an academic institution? Or is that not the case any more? I don't know how it is in the states, but I'd never use the free library if I could access an academic one. Which isn't to say I don't use the local libraries, I do, of course, but I'd murder small children to have regular and convenient access to a decent academic library. Mmm. Four translations of Seneca. Drool [etc].

I've only a few times been to the library. For good reason though: the library hasn't carried a single book I've tried to find.
Hence my personal library peaks around 300. Something I'm glad to have now and will always treasure.

The libraries where I used to live were brilliant, but the council where I am now seems to think there are better things to spend their (our) money on, so all the libraries here are small and insignificant. It's a shame, my reading habits have suffered terribly.

I work at the library of my school. We've got quite nice selection of (graphic) design, typography etc. books so yeah, sure I do.
How is checking out books a "quaint" thing?