In my possible quest for grad-schooldom, my friend Anderson (local bad-ass, Ph.D. candidate in computer visualization of accoustics and general dancin’ fool) told me about this book Getting What You Came For – The Smart Student’s Guide to Earning a Master’s or Ph.D. Being that I’m in a media-buying hiatus, I went online to the Austin Public Library’s catalogue and lo they had it – at a branch library I’d never been to. I also found that they have a bunch of eBooks online that you can register for free to read at home without ever having to hunt down “Branch X – THE SECRET LIBRARY”.
But I like secret libraries, especially when they have a map to tell you how to get to them! This branch is up by Swad on Rundberg and caters to the multi-ethnic mix in that neighborhood with lots of immigrant services like tutoring and ESL. I found my book, geeked out with a punk-rock shelving girl, spied on a computer class and then got sucked into the cookbook section. Austin libraries really take their cookbooks seriously. I didn’t get away without checking out Julia Child’s The Way to Cook (why not brush up on basics?) and Laxmi’s Vegetarian Kitchen, as well as a big fat modern art book.
See, I go to be all geeky and professional and end up deliciously sidetracked and winking at cute boys in computer classes. Everybody’s happy in the library, it’s an oasis. I’m always smiling to myself when I’m in one, it’s so incredibly luxurious to have such a public resource. I feel so silly about them: I forget they exist. And then when I’m whining that I need some media/input/trebuchet-to-unstick-and-fling me there comes a little light far in the back of my head that speaks: … “the library… you will find it… at… the library!” And Ausin’s libraries are so great and have so many freaky books and boring business books and strange religion books and such nice friendly people.
I’m all warm and fuzzy inside! I could be a giant literate stuffed animal!
bug | 25-Jul-03 at 12:35 pm | Permalink
I, too, am a huge fan of the public library. Its one of the last bastions of the idea that people might actually have intellectual interests they want to pursue outside any formal framework. Information Wants To Be Free!
Anyhow, in the quest for some free information about my trip to europe, I stopped by the new library in my ‘hood, the new Capital Hill Library. I was hoping to peruse their selection of travel books, find some quick-reading fiction, and perhaps bootleg some audiobooks off cd. However, when I arrived at 7pm, I found that my pleasure was to be DENIED. Now, 7pm is mid-afternoon in this semi-arctic clime, and the sun was still quite high in the sky. A big sign proclaimed the new library hours: CLOSED at 6pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Furthermore, the entire city library system is to be closed up entirely from August 25th to September 1st in an effort to cut costs in a bad economy.
Dark Times indeed.
narrator | 25-Jul-03 at 5:15 pm | Permalink
Wow, that blows. The Austin Libraries aren’t doing so hot but not THAT bad. They’d like to build a new main library but will have to wait a bit, but they still seem to be procuring and keeping open. Bless their little booky, civil-liberty lovin’ souls.
One more sign: you should move to Austin.
teno | 25-Jul-03 at 7:33 pm | Permalink
my colleague jacob created a couple of bookmarklets that you will dig:
http://www.chompy.net/blogs/jacob/archives/000234/index.php
if you’re browsing amazon (or powell’s, or barnes & noble, for that matter) and find a book you want to read, but don’t want to buy, click on the bookmarklet and it will search the austin public library for it. there’s also one for the UT library. it searches based on the ISBN.
i have these on my safari toolbar in a menu called “lib-lookup”, so it’s a very simple and elegant.
don’t forget the wunnerful TEXshare card, that enables APL cardholders to also check out books at UT and dozens of other libraries:
http://www.texshare.edu/programs/card/index.html
that’s a lot of book!
db | 25-Jul-03 at 11:55 pm | Permalink
Wooooo! Give it up for the Austin Public Library System! Little Walnut Creek is a good branch; for that matter, every branch is a good branch except for the North Village branch, which is a closet.
Which reminds me, it’s about time for another Fact Party. Expect an appropriate ausleri post soon.