Libraries are so Coooooooool

More particularly, the Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington branch really really rocks! They even have half or a whole bookcase dedicated to utopianism.

7 or 8 stories filled with books and other media of information and literature contributes a bit, too. The mandatory computers that provide access to the World-Wide Web do a good job of providing knowledge and entertainment.

In so many ways, though, the Harold Washington branch embodies the image of a library that I have in my mind. Roman columns, fountains here and there, shelves everywhere, tables and chairs, very wide open rooms, high ceilings. . .and I wish I had more focus right now to write a better description of it. I just feel that it was missing people walking around in togas and white robes.

I plan on going there on a regular basis. Already, I have gotten myself a library card and took out a book that I had thought wasn't released yet. While looking through Amazon, I made the mistake of thinking the book was going to be released in a month or two, but instead, it was released back in 1997. Yay!

But it's very convenient and quite inexpensive to have all these books available. It's also just across the street from an "L" stop. After work, I can walk a couple blocks to the train then ride the train a half hour to the library. Since the wife works and goes to school downtown, we can meet down there, do some studying then go out for drinks, dinner or whatever else downtown has to offer.

This convenience along with the vast amount of "free" access (at least my tax dollars are going to something worthwhile) to information in books and media comes as something very new to me. Growing up in a relatively small town and going to a very small liberal arts college doesn't really lead to thinking of a library as somewhere to find vast amounts and of sometimes esoteric knowledge.

Even when I got onto a college van for a ride to a much larger library at a larger school, I didn't really take advantage of the opportunity. Now, though, I'm really excited to have this resource available to me. It's so cool, especially considering that I have a whole lot more of research to do for my current paper.