as if you needed a reason to buy books...

Gwen's got a post about a great way to help needy libraries. Apparently, one can order books from Amazon, pick a library from their list, and they take care of the rest. Maybe you should see if the library you grew up in is hurting, and help them out. Gwen found out about this at pamie.com, and Pamie's description of the harm that will come to library patrons if you don't donate is hysterically funny.

I know that the libraries in Durham have cut back on their hours, which weren't great to begin with, and their book-buying budget has been severely curtailed. This means that, since they have to please the public, there won't be as much variety in the new books, because everyone wants to read that new John Grisham piece of tripe.

Personally, my local library, which was less than a five-minute walk from my house, was very important to me in my youth. I was a voracious reader, and the children's librarian took it upon herself to pick out books for me--eight or ten--every two weeks, the length of the loan period. And I'd read them all. (Of course, I didn't do much of anything else, but that's another story.) Her name was Ursula, although I don't recall her last name. I still have trouble controlling myself in libraries; my brain screams "Free books! Free books!" When I was old enough, I volunteered in the summer reading program. My summers were all about the library.

University libraries aren't immune to the cuts, either. I worked in the Special Collections library for a while, which was great, and apparently they've now run out of money to hire anyone else. (I haven't worked there for a couple of years, but their website, which I designed, needs to be updated.) And librarians are having to make painful choices about which journals to keep subscribing to, and which to cut. All of this, of course, when the coach of the basketball team makes almost twice as much as the university president, blah, blah, blah...don't even get me started on college sports.