Ten on Tuesday: 10 Reasons to Use the Public Library

Well, duh. Although in this day and age, maybe fewer people do use it. I don't know.

1. It's free. Or at least cheap (I rent books, more than borrow them)

2. You can go and get a thousand ideas about what you want to do to your dining room walls (for instance) without paying a dime.

3. Summer reading program usually yields good results (for instance, Cardinals tickets)

4. It is a blast of cold air on a summer day. Walk to the library, relax in the AC for an hour, then walk home and get a lemonade at Bread Co. on your way home.

5. Kids books add up and most of them can be found at the library.

6. When I belonged to a book club, it was nice not to have to clutter up my shelves with crappy books I hated. If I really liked it, I knew I could go buy it later.

7. Interlibrary loan. Where we live, our library has connections all over the place. If the book is out there somewhere, they can find it. For a dollar. I have borrowed obscure Benedictine texts and do-it-yourself how-tos written by publish-yourself authors.

8. Videos, but at our library, caveat emptor: they have higher late fees that accumulate quickly. So we rarely do this, but we do borrow books on tape, which do not incur large late fees.

9. I can escape after dinner every month or so and just go there. I'm not tempted to buy anything, the lighting is good, and I can browse through magazine titles and ignore the fact that I have obligations on the other side of the walls.

10. It is a neutral meeting ground if you're worried about someone coming to your house for tutoring (for example). It is quiet, you don't have to buy anything, and you can sit and work together undisturbed for hours.