Day #258: Bookstores and Libraries

 I somehow feel like I can make it through the next round of restrictions because the libraries are staying open for curbside.

Other than Thanksgiving, there's not really an impact in my life. I'm seeing the new restrictions in place. There was a staff member at the door of the grocery store today with a counter counting the number of people entering and leaving so the store can stay at the 25% of max capacity they are required to. I went in the middle of the day on a weekday, which I've been trying to do, so I had no issue. Apparently there were shortages of staples over the weekend but my store was well stocked today. And so far, there's been no move to close the library.

I was a library kid. I'm sure I've mentioned this before. I think I was seven when I got my first library card. Back then you had to sign your own name to get a card. Now we issue them to infants if the family wants one. I had James get one plus his own library bag for his 5th birthday because I thought he'd like it.

But I've also always been a bookstore person. I remember liking going to the mall so I could browse discount books at Waldenbooks (remember them, anyone?) My sister and her best friend loved going to what they called the Barnes and Geek when they were in high school, and as I have done with them for my entire life I tagged along as often as I could. I also will never forget my first trip to Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon. I think I was in junior high school at the time, in Portland on a Girl Scout trip. I was overwhelmed and amazed that such a thing as Powells could exist. 

In my early 20s, I was much more of a bookstore person than a library person. It took me six months to get my first library card when I moved to a new city after college. For me, that's kind of a stunning record. But I bought a lot of books in that era and for the first time I lived alone and could put all my books on shelves in my living room. A longtime friend who helped me move a couple of times in my 20s still talks about the cartons of books we moved from apartment to apartment.

I used to dream about moving to Portland and working at Powell's. I don't think I would have liked Portland, actually...in comparison to Oregon coastal cities like Astoria I actually find Portland kind of annoying...I like smaller cities with better parking and Portland kind of feels like Seattle without so much waterfront. But I used to think about moving down there just for the bookstore. That's the truth.

I kind of wandered into working in libraries although to be honest I really don't know why since it was such a good fit. I got a job as a library page (that's book shelver) during one of my MANY between jobs in my 20s phase. I was only at the job about six months before leaving for New Zealand for six months. Have I done a blog post on my time in New Zealand yet? I really should. Anyway, I quit that job although looking back I was a substitute with regular hours so I really should have just been gone for six months and come back to it, I think they would have let me. When I got back from New Zealand I was still between jobs and unemployed. But more broke.

I know I've talked before about how I became a librarian because I answered an ad for a library job on an island in Puget Sound, somehow got that job (I didn't know then how competitive those positions really are...for the first 6 months everyone I met who worked in that library district had either once had my job and gotten promoted or had applied for my job and not gotten it) and went to graduate school for a degree in library science.

My first library job was in circulation. Those are the people who check the books in and out. There's more to it than that, but when you work in circulation or as a shelver you touch a LOT of books. I took SO many books home in that era. Everything looked fascinating. I eventually had to slow it down. Not everything that looked interesting had to be taken home and read right then. But it was always hard. A co-worker of mine said once that when she first started working in the library she found herself hungry...like physically hungry for books. Eventually she reached more of an equilibrium. 

I also buy plenty of books. My husband likes antique stores and that's a hobby he passed on to me once we got together and I like a good used bookstore. So last year I started gathering up all the unread books in my house and trying to prioritize reading what I already own, as well as a constant circulation of books from the library.

And then it was March and the libraries closed.

I remember my last shift working in the library. It was March 6. My kid's school had already closed (his was the first district in the country to do so, as the first epicenter of the virus in the U.S. was 20 minutes from here, in the hospital where we used to volunteer every week.) We had already cancelled library events and meeting room use. We were quarantining books that were checked in for 4 hours on shelving carts. We had bottles of hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes everywhere and were wiping surfaces like crazy people. No one wore masks. It's hard to remember now but almost no one wore face masks back then. We just didn't know. 

There was some talk at that time if the library would have to close but most of us thought that was impossible. We weren't even sure most of the area school districts would be willing to close. It seemed like too big a sacrifice. I could not imagine a world where libraries would close. I returned all of my books. I was headed to my local library to pick up kids' books but I was going to read from my own shelves for the month of March. 

Nine days later I was in my local library, not the one I worked at. They had announced they were closing at 5 p.m. that day for a minimum of 2 weeks so I went to stock up. I left the kids at home because we were worried about exposure but again no one was wearing masks. We were trying to do social distancing, that was becoming a thing and everyone was scrubbing surfaces like crazy.

That library was closed for three months after that. They reopened for curbside service in mid June.

While the library was closed, I read a lot of my own unread books. But I learned some things. My book buying habits had not made my own shelves super diverse and most of the books I owned were pretty old. Like half of them were thirty years old or older. Now, there's nothing wrong with old books, but it turns out the books I had been filling my house with weren't really the kind of books I liked or preferred reading.

I kept track of the books I bought during the library closure. I bought them from local bookstores that would ship or do curbside and I kept track of what they were, mostly because I wanted to make sure they got read and I wasn't just unnecessarily hoarding books. And I did buy things I probably would not have bought but would have gotten from the library. And I read them. And I liked them. 

I remember once years ago going to a used bookstore with a couple of teacher friends who were stocking up to fill classroom libraries. I only bought two books. The woman working the counter asked me if I was a teacher as well and I said nope, I'm a librarian. She said I thought so. You buy your books differently, she told me. You buy books like a collector. Like someone who wants to own them, not just someone who wants to read them. I've always kind of had that as a badge of honor. And it's a good thing. But I've also learned a few things about myself as a reader this year and one of them is there are books worth spending money on and I need to put my money where my mouth is. Buying a book is a statement about who and what you want to support.

So how do I decide which books are worth buying and which ones I will read from the library? It's a push and pull. I placed a book order last night as a gift for myself for my birthday. One book from an author I follow on Instagram because I think it's a book James will like and actually it will probably be his New Year's book (more on that later.) One small press nonfiction, not available from the library. One new book of poetry edited by a BIPOC editor that I for sure want to own. And one Christmas book for that collection (more on that later) that I've read but want to own in the collection. 

It took me awhile to narrow all that down. Because there are things I want to read, but I've bought 3 books new on impulse buys in the last 2 months that I want to read as well, so I'm trying to pace myself. And I feel really good about what I've ordered. I did learn a lot about myself as a book buyer during quarantine and I have changed. But I'm so so glad the library will continue to be available for me. Do I miss it? The sound and the smell and the feel of the library and getting to browse those beautiful shelves? I absolutely do. But I feel so lucky to have access. I remember how hard those spring days were when I did not and when I had to buy what I was going to read (or get it as an ebook, which just isn't my thing.) So I don't know if I've even answered my own questions about bookstores and libraries in this post except to realize that I do really need them both. A lot.

Media consumption: I started Book 3 of The Vanderbeekers series yesterday and it was such a lovely book to sink into and read. Book 1 is the one that I just ordered for my Christmas books collection. Haven't read much in it today but that book is making me happy.

Today I'm thankful for reading, the grocery store and grocery workers, my friends, my health, and my life.