Free Library Swag? Thank you!

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

I was pleasantly surprised this week to get a bonus with my local library checkouts: a lovely new mug! Our librarian only had a few come in, so he was limited in who he could give them to. But because my husband probably uses the local library more than any other patron(and perhaps me as a close second), the first name that came to him was Paul. Much appreciated, Austin!
As for that book in the photo, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, I am absolutely loving it so far. Weir is the author of The Martian, a popular novel that was made into a very popular movie. Science fiction at its best.

Do you use your local library? Do tell. 📚

Further reading in my post from 2019: In Praise of Librarians. Many supportive comments of our libraries and of those who work in them.

“The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man”
― T.S. Eliot

27 thoughts on “Free Library Swag? Thank you!”

  1. Nice mug! Yes, I’m a huge fan of libraries. I teach creative writing at one near me – for ten years now. I have my three top favorite libraries and have visited probably 15 or more. Currently I order many of my free e-books for my Kindle from the local library. It’s saved me a lot of money and helped me read a lot of books. ❤

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  3. Love the mug! I don’t go to my local library as much as I should. Usually when I do, I’m dropping off books for their Friendship shop. However, I do use Libby, an app for listening to audiobooks through my local library. I just love it. Sometimes I have to wait for a particular audiobook, but I’m trying to learn to not expect instant gratification. Waiting is a Zen process 🙂

    When I was a kid, our Post Office and the local library was a lifeline for me. I lived in a rural part of upstate New York so if I wanted to travel, I had to do it through a book. In fact, that library, the Fort Hunter Free Library (which has changed locations several times over the years) has a special place in my heart. My sister Shirley who died in 2022 was active in the library. After she died, we were encouraged to donate to the library, which I did, of course. Later her husband gave the library a jigsaw puzzle of a library she had completed. It’s displayed where everyone can see it.

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    1. Marie, thank you for sharing your experiences with libraries. They were a lifeline for me too, even though I was raised in the city. But I raised my children in a rural area, so twice monthly visits to a larger town were a must.
      I’m so glad you have the memories of your sister and her attachment to the library life. As for audiobooks, I haven’t even tried one yet, can you believe it? But I will probably do so in the future. 😊

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    1. Well, that’s tied for the best reason to go! We are definitely regular users. And I have many fond memories of libraries when I was a child and when I brought my own children. 💙 Thanks for stopping by, Andrea. 😊

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  10. Our local library has four big book sales a year. And I attend and buy a ton of books four times a year! The library is a bit of a drive, so I prefer to support their sales and save myself frequent trips to pick out and return books. A win-win for the library and me!

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      1. The entire community supports the sales, and it is a wonderful thing to see all those people combing through the tables of books each time.

        I don’t have a particular genre, Jennifer. The library sections the books off, and does a great job I might add, so people can go to a specific aisle and find what they are looking for. What I especially like is a table they set aside for ‘special finds.’ That table brings back so many memories because I think ‘special finds’ must be library code for: we found these old books but have no idea what to do with them. One or two usually find their way into my bag.

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        1. Wow, your library sounds a lot bigger than our rinky dink one, haha. So great your community supports it. I would love to see some of those special finds. I bet my husband would scoop some of them up in a hurry. 😊

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