the wonder of libraries (only slightly OT)
 

You often see the recommendation here to check the local library for one
book or another - and I wonder if everyone has discovered the wondrous
service of being able to ask online for books! In our area, at least,
you can search for any book held anywhere in the county, and for a mere
60p it is brought to the local library and you are notified by email. It
also includes a vast number of books held in storage. Wonderful!

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

In message , Janet Baraclough
writes
In our library you just pick up the phone to the librarian (or fill
in a card while you're there). They search the county resources, order
the book if it's stocked , and send a post card or phone call when it
arrives. If it isn't stocked, but is currently in publication, they
will add it to the purchase list for your local branch and notify you
when it arrives.Strangely, there's a trivial charge for retrieving
books from the county stock, but none at all if they have to purchase
it :-)Many libraries also stock gardening videos; or will add them to
the purchase list of asked.

I guess if I'm honest I was happy to find the internet access because
then I can hunt around among books while sitting at the computer and
pretending to myself that I'm really working.... ;-)

But I feel very strongly about libraries: losing them because we don't
use them enough would be a tragedy too terrifying to contemplate. It
seems impossible - but these days you never know....

The best gardening library available here, is the free one begun by
the local gardening club a year or two ago. It contains many hundreds
of books all donated by members or retrieved from jumbles etc; members
just help themselves at meetings and sign a book. We also recycle
gardening magazines there.

This sounds wonderful. I'll have to keep my eyes open for something
similar around here!

--
Klara, Gatwick basin