<3 Minute Read

Please allow me to virtue signal my way through hump day, while also demonstrating how well-read I am.  Yes, I know, it sounds too good to be true, and I'll sweeten the pot by bringing my childhood into it, as well.  I'll even somehow relate it to the financial planning exercise we did earlier this year. 

Huh?  Well, I had forgotten about the power and virtue of public libraries.  So:   

If you live in a place with a decent or better public library system, may I suggest you get a library card?

I know, I know:  How much thrilling stuff can I put out there? 

We're about to find out, as I remind everyone about libraries, via - shocker - a story. 

It's been decades since I had a library card.  Officially, it was December of 1985, when I bid the University of Colorado at Boulder goodbye upon graduation.  This is its inspiring Norlin Library.

Fun Fact:  The inscription above the pillars reads Who Knows Only His Own Generation Remains Always a Child. 

True dat, but I digress.

My love for these temples of intelligence began much earlier.  My parents would drop me off here when I was a child, and I'd stay for hours.  This is the Town of Colonie Library, in my hometown of Albany, NY.  It was a big deal in 1973 in a place like that - I mean look at that fountain.  I was 9. 

I didn't know it at the time, but having access to a proper library then made all of the difference in my life.  Dramatic?  No, it is not; my love then and now of books mattered, and libraries made them accessible at scale.

But why do libraries matter today?  Who needs one when everything is already in your hands?  Or, if you mostly prefer the analog experience of a book, your choice can be delivered tomorrow from Amazon?

My answer begins last summer on an outing with my pal Bryon Browne IV.  It is he who first introduced me to the San Francisco Public Library, or more precisely, the breadth of its offerings. 

That included a free outing to Alcatraz to tour the gardens there.  (And the prison.)  It's true and this was a joint library - National Park Service venture that took place in June of 2023. 

It was one of my (and I bet By's) favorite days of the year.

Next, and earlier this year, our financial planner told us to "cut spending, or develop a taste for dog food as you near your 90s." 

I am kidding, and I've covered this before, but the fact is, I have spent thousands of dollars on books, records, CDs, magazines, and DVDs over my 40 years as an adult.  If you think that's a stretch, stop by our place sometime.  Simply flushing another $30 on the book or vinyl record du jour again and again was no longer a wise option.

So, a while later, I stopped off here and got a library card.  It took less than 5 minutes. 

As one would expect hope, SF's library technology is first-class.  Properly equipped, I was off. 

Put simply, what is available, all for free, is astounding.  I know that should probably be obvious, but I had forgotten, and maybe you have, too? 

What follows is not exhaustive.  There are DVDs, Blu-rays, digital photo archives, newspaper archives, and more.  If you live in or near a metro area, you'll likely have similar choices.

I will bring this to life a merciful conclusion by listing the media I've borrowed since getting my card early this summer, and its current price with Amazon Prime if I had bought instead.  Which would have been a definite possibility with all of the books, and maybe the vinyl, too. 

BTW:  I recommend everything that follows.  Well, maybe not Kid A in its entirety, but that's splitting hairs.

BOOKS
Get The Picture, by Bianca Bosker ($22)

Empireworld, by Sathnam Sanghera ($23) - I wrote about it here

eBOOKS
The Wolves of K Street, by Brody Mullins & Luke Mullins ($17)

AUDIOBOOKS
Unscripted, by James B. Stewart & Rachel Abrams ($27)

VINYL RECORDS
The Doors, by The Doors ($24)
Around the World, by The Police ($36) - the included DVD documentary makes it
Kid A, by Radiohead ($38)

ONLINE LEARNING
I was astounded to find that many of Udemy's courses are . . . free with a library card. 

For example, and for the good of all of us, I am taking this presently:

It's on sale for only $18 for non-library goers, but still.  And it can't hurt, FFS.

NEWSPAPERS
I've always found this to have one of the strictest online paywalls of any publication.  No longer. 

I do stay away from the opinion pages, though.  The least expensive subscription available is $52/year.

MAGAZINES
Online and for free, I read Model Railroader, Fine Homebuilding, and Car & Driver, among other things, if you must know.

Sure, it's a lot, but I'm retired.  By my tally, that's around $230 I saved on media in about 8 weeks, omitting the magazines and Kid A.

So thank you, SF Public Library - that $230 can buy a lot of Weissβier.

Now do broadband Internet as a free public service.  Like libraries so proudly are.

Thank you for reading this newsletter.  

Library music?  Try this, and it is brand new.  Here is the Diamond Certified Pat Metheny, with his gazillionth >= Killer album; this one is called MoonDial.

10 Seconds of Seriousness:  After I wrote this, I was curious to see if this recording, released on July 26th, is available to borrow from the SF Public Library; it is.