Today I am writing from inside the Guppy (photo below) not far from 100 Mile House where my youngest daughter is tree planting. It is sunny and warm, and we are on a trip around the Cariboo/Chilcotins, jumping into many lakes, poking around one store towns, and sleeping in til 8am. I am on my third book and this one is depressing. At night I tell Jody he is not allowed to fall asleep until after me as I might be too sad to be all alone. He does not listen to me.
So, thinking about that sad book brings me to my main topic, my Library. The Gibsons Public Library, is about a two minute bike ride from our house and I often go there to work. Elf Sylvia and I rent the soundproof pod and get projects done together. The pod is tiny, just big enough for a little desk between two people. You can rent the pod for two hours at a time so it forces you to get your projects done fast.
Now, if I am at the library to get books, here are my two strategies for choosing what to borrow.
Strategy #1:
I wander in and see if there is anyone free at the front desk. If there is, I ask them to help me choose a book. I let them know what I like and then they go make suggestions. Usually they choose from the “Staff Picks” and with this method I can have five books in under five minutes. Typically I have to explain that I left my card at home (80% of the time), and would they let me take the books out nevertheless. They always say “Yes, we know you”, and I am not sure that this is a good thing. In a small town when people say they know you it could well be for the wrong reasons.
Strategy #2
I wander in and don’t see anyone free so I head to the stacks and choose an aisle I have not been to for a while. Then I bend down to look on the bottom shelf. Why you ask? Because I reckon the bottom shelf authors get ignored. I believe the library shelves are like the grocery shelves where things at eye level sell more often than the items way up high or way down low. Think of all those fantastic authors who could have been discovered earlier if their books had just been one or two rows higher. I am doing those authors a service.
Illustration done by my tree planting daughter Pip.
Ok, now I want to share an idea with you. I love the concept of "Staff Picks", but what about we have a section for “Books to Avoid”. I have read some tragically bad books and people need to be warned about them. Maybe it would not be the staff who select books for this section, it could be you and me. We could have a discreet shelf where we would tuck a little review into the book saying why not to borrow it. In our local newspaper we have a section called "Kisses and Kicks" and I quickly get tired of all the sappy "Kisses", so my eye wanders naturally to the "Kicks". I think I would go straight to the "Books to Avoid" section just as I go to the "Kicks". I am going to go and ask Heather (head librarian) what she thinks of this idea.