Since getting back from holiday, I have joined two libraries.
Well, I suppose that's not strictly accurate. What I should really say is that I have joined two counties' worth of libraries, as by joining one you are automatically joined to all of the libraries in that county, and so I am now a member of the libraries of both Kent and West Sussex.
And jolly marvellous it is too.
I finally went into the new library in Maidstone, not far from the old Springfield site, and joined that a couple of Saturdays ago. I didn't immediately borrow anything, but put a couple of books on reserve (for the princely sum of 35p per book - payable on collection), and have since been emailed to say that one of them has come in and that I can go in and pick it up any time in the next couple of weeks.
It's all very high tech now - I can search through the entire catalogue on line across the whole county, and can request books be moved from one branch to another, can borrow from anywhere I like, as well as returning books to another branch. Impressive stuff.
Marginally complicated by Medway insisting on being a different council to Kent (although frankly libraries are the least of our problems in that regard when the bloody boundary between the two runs right through your garden !!) but I am automatically a member of Medway libraries as well as Kent - it'll just be interesting to see whether I can return books borrowed from Maidstone to our Walderslade library?
Anyway, I've reserved a third book at Maidstone in the last couple of days and am waiting for notification of its arrival. The catalogue was showing that it was available (I think in Maidstone and certainly in one or two other branches) so I am hoping it won't be a long wait. Will prove to be an interesting test of the system.
A few days after joining in Maidstone I went into the library in Crawley and joined there as well, and have already borrowed six from them! Three were for reading purposes, and three were from their good selection of music books, and Jake and I have been enjoying working our way through some of the songs in them on our lovely new piano. I think I could be testing on the on-line renewal facility for those ones when the initial lending period comes to an end.
(Interesting to see that reserving books costs 60p in Sussex compared to the 35p in Kent - wonder if it says something about the relative state of the economy in the two counties?)
All of these books borrowed from the library will prove to be an interesting test of me as well. As many people know only too well, I have become rather fond of the combination of both book reading and book ownership, and the challenge that I am setting for myself is to see if I can divorce the one from the other, and to continue to enjoy just as much the pleasures of book reading, without feeling quite as much need for book ownership!
Perhaps I will actually end up feeling a new pleasure in library membership, borrowing and returning my chosen books!
We'll see!