So many stupid library policies

It doesn't matter where you go, public library policies across North America are just plain stupid. Let me give you an example: Yesterday I emailed Toronto Public Library, asking them if I could purchase a yearly membership instead of a membership for just three months. (As I live quite a distance away from Toronto, it's difficult for me to travel to Toronto once a year, never mind four times a year). 

Even though I'm willing to fork over $120 to access Toronto's Overdrive (ebook) collection their policy blocks me from becoming a member, which is bad for both them and me. The doofus/robot who emailed me back told me that "we need to restrict our membership to a 'reasonable geographic area' so that we don't risk losing access to these services." To me this type of speech sounds more like the screeching of mice; it makes me want to lash out, and to tell Toronto's librarians just how this particular policy turns potential customers like myself away. 

I still cannot see how making the trip to the library makes any difference. Thinking out loud here, wouldn't Toronto Public Library's collection – which is already amazing – grow exponentially if non-Torontonians could subscribe without visiting the library in-person? You would think that a public library would relish attracting out-of-towners. As a book-lover, I am deeply saddened by Toronto's policy. Although I don't live in Toronto, I love the city, and I'm always telling people about how marvelous Toronto's collection is. I would love to become a Toronto Public Library card-holder, but I'm afraid that that is simply not a possibility at this point, and I urge Toronto to reconsider the aforementioned policy, and to ask themselves whether it is truly necessary.

The trouble with San Diego Public Library

As a book lover, I regularly visit my local SDPL branch several times each week. Libraries have always been among my favorite places. I love the freedom libraries provide, allowing me to read books I would normally pass up if I had to pay for them myself. (If my books were limited, I would probably stick to genres or authors I already enjoy.) Libraries broaden my knowledge, nourish my imagination, and stimulate my curiosity. The passion that I hold for books and libraries is so intense that I not only belong to SDPL, I also frequently borrow books from several other libraries. Being a card-holding member of several libraries allows me to talk about SDPL from a unique stance. Unlike many of the reviewers who post on Yelp or Facebook, for example, I can compare and contrast library services. 

I gotta say that compared to San Francisco Public Library and Los Angeles Public Library, SDPL seems kind of, um, smelly! Just by comparing and contrasting the number of fiction titles for children, young adults, and adults available through Overdrive really underlines my point.

3.9 million People,
61,675 Fiction Ebooks

837,000 People,
38,551 Fiction Ebooks

1.4 million People,
2771 Fiction Ebooks

San Diego citizens should be outraged, or at least embarrassed(!), by these numbers. San Francisco's overdrive collection is approximately 14x that of San Diego's, and Los Angeles's collection is about 22x that of ours. Sheesh! Is my face red! (Or it would be, if I were a person.) The discrepancy in numbers is even more striking when we take population into account. San Francisco may have fewer people than San Diego, but their collection substantially rivals ours.

To actually do the math here: LA ends up having approximately one ebook for every 63 people. San Francisco, which looks truly exemplary in comparison, still has only one ebook for every 22 people. And San Diego? Pathetically, we boast one ebook for every 505 people. To say these numbers are dreadful is truly an understatement.

Hello....and welcome to my blog!

My sister and I, both book loving-tabbies, recently decided that it was time to spread our love of books and reading into the wider world (You can visit her blog, which deals exclusively with children's and YA lit here: http://qwendysbox.blogspot.com). Our decision to blog stems from our love of books, our need to practice our writing (we're still babies), and our desire to reach out to the world at large; ultimately, we want to show the world that cats are more than just cute balls of fur; as the legendary atheist Richard Dawkins remarked in The God Delusion, one can compare the "organizing of atheists" with the "herding of cats. . . . Even if they can't be herded, cats in sufficient numbers can make a lot of noise and they cannot be ignored."

This blog, along with my sister Qwendy's, echoes the spirit of Dawkins words. We are independent tabbies who think for ourselves. In addition to a smorgasbord of books, our blogs offer up our opinions on a host of book-related topics. My focus, however, differs from my sisters. While I am also concerned about the dearth of books in school libraries, the lack of quality, kid-friendly reading material in school libraries, and the mindless teach-to-the-test drills that are surely instrumental in the alarming increase of aliterates in our youth, for example, so as to not needlessly trample on my sister's paws, my focus will be on adult literature, as well as opinion pieces on reading, public libraries, and bookstores.