The Library...Part 2

Such a weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth by the library patrons when it was announced the library would be closed for as many as 8 to 10 weeks.

Never mind that we had reciprocal agreements with the other libraries in the area (and that -- gasp -- Naperville had MORE audiobooks than anyone else), it just wasn't the same as coming to our own HOME library.

Never mind that the reason for the closing was to make the library bigger and better (a $21 million renovation).

Never mind that we had been living in cramped quarters when they moved the books from one section to another ever since spring.

Library patrons are not big fans of change. Especially when it means that one has to get their weekly dose of reading/listening/watching materials someplace else.

I chose the Glen Ellyn library as my new BookPlace. Since Glen Ellyn is less than half the size of Wheaton, obviously their library was quite small too. Very pretty, nicely laid out (if you don't count having to actually WALK up stairs to get to the adult department!!), but small. They did have a great new books section and I found I was able to get a lot more best sellers a lot more quickly than I could at home. That was a plus. Their audiobook section was woefully inadequate. Inadequate of course in that they didn't have any new Elizabeth Peters' books I hadn't already heard.

At first they limited the Wheaton folks to 10 items apiece. But when they found they were inundated with over 3000 people wandering over from Wheaton to use their facilities, they got a bit narkier and limited us to 5 items at one time. Which, of course, could be circumvented by taking out 5 one day and another 5 a couple of days later, should you be so inclined. As they pointed out, 3000 Wheaton patrons taking out 10 items apiece added up to 30,000 items which was rather decimating to their small facility.

As the 8 weeks grew closer in which the Wheaton Library was supposed to open, the Glen Ellyn staff started wearing buttons which read: "Wheaton won't tell us either." I got a huge laugh out of that!! I had this sense that the librarians were thinking, "Hey, y'all are nice, but it is time for you to GO HOME."

Of course that is what we thought too. And finally, on February 12, a full 3 months after it closed, the Wheaton Library opened again. I was devastated that I wasn't home, but was in NC. I wanted to be there at the dot of 9:00 when it opened.

Our Valentine's Day date couldn't have been better. Dinner at Alfie's and then to the library to see it in all its glory.

And it is glorious, indeed! Lots of space to hang out and read. (Maybe when we've retired?), Comfy chairs in nooks. To open closer to spring -- a place to read and eat, overlooking Adams Park. The new books section is bigger and better, and oh, the fabulous number of audiobooks! It's just too bad my ears can't listen as fast as my eyes can read.....

An observation: despite all the technology available at home, folks STILL like the library. It's a wonderful place to be.

When my sister came to visit shortly after we moved here in 1982, she had lost my address, and for some reason she couldn't get my phonenumber. "No problem," she told her then fiance, "Jan will have registered at the libary first thing. We'll get her address from them."

And, of course, she did - because Torrey and I registered at the library the day after we moved in....