Love Your Library: Borrow More Books!

Last month I decided to make an effort to make better use of my local library.

I have been a library member since I was three years old, and I borrow books very regularly – but I realised that I had lately started only to reserve books I knew I wanted. My library is brilliant at bringing me books from other branches – I often only have to wait a day or two for one to appear – but I had lost the habit of browsing the shelves and borrowing whatever took my fancy.

Culter Library

Being all too aware of the financial pressures on local authorities, and how libraries are often seen as an easy target for closure, I wanted to do all I could to keep mine open. A librarian had told me that what counts most in assessing a library’s viability is borrowing numbers. We can go in and use the computers, read the magazines and chat to the staff, and all of those things are good and worthwhile activities – but if we don’t borrow books, the council doesn’t know we’ve even been there.

I was further inspired by an episode of Currently Reading, an American podcast whose presenters are especially keen to promote libraries. They talked about a discussion they had had with their local librarian, in which one of them had admitted to feeling guilty for borrowing her maximum number of books every week (and I don’t know how American libraries work, but she has eleven library cards), even though she knew she’d never get through all of them. The librarian told her there was no problem with that at all – on the contrary, that’s one of the advantages of libraries over bookshops (not that Currently Reading doesn’t support those too); you can take a chance on any book, and if you don’t like it you can just take it back.

So one November morning, armed with my wheelie bag, I took myself to the library and spent two hours wandering up and down the aisles. My library is small – the adult fiction section has three short rows and a few more shelves against the wall – but those two hours were so enjoyable. I picked up books by writers I knew, I picked up books whose authors I’d never even heard of. I chose anything that looked interesting. I’d also brought my husband’s library card, so I could afford to borrow a lot of books.

When I got home, I tweeted about my new resolution and the books I had borrowed, and lo and behold, Rebecca Foster (@bookishbeck) noticed, and invited me to join in with her new monthly #LoveYourLibrary blogger event. Well I do love my library, so I didn’t need asking twice, and this is my first post.

The books I borrowed were:

Catherine Alliott: A Crowded Marriage

Simon Beckett: The Scent of Death

Fanny Blake: The Long Way Home

Bloody Scotland (an anthology of crime writing)

Alan Bradley: As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

Simon Brett: A Deadly Habit

Chris Brookmyre: Black Widow

Paula Byrne: The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym

The Citadel: AJ Cronin

Anabel Donald: An Uncommon Murder

Francis Durbridge: Design for Murder

Kate Ellis: The Mermaid’s Scream

Christopher Fowler: The Book of Forgotten Authors

Jackie Fraser: The Bookshop of Second Chances

Clare MacLeary: Runaway

Deborah Moggach: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Louise Penny: The Kingdom of the Blind

Otto Pensler: The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries

Patricia Scanlan: Orange Blossom Days (I love this cover, and so, it seems, does Charlie Parker)

Georges Simenon: Lock No.1

Sylvia Townsend Warner: Lolly Willowes

Of these the authors I knew were Catherine Alliott, Alan Bradley, Simon Brett, Paula Byrne, Clare MacLeary, Francis Durbridge, Deborah Moggach, Louise Penny and Georges Simenon. The others were all new to me, though I’d heard Chris Brookmyre give a talk (in a library!), and recognised most of the names in the Bloody Scotland Anthology.

 
I’m gradually working my way through my stacks. I probably won’t get to them all, but just looking at them is making me happy. I’ll post reviews of some of them when I can, but at the moment my top read has been Lolly Willowes, which I loved, with Paula Byrne’s new biography of Barbara Pym coming in a close second. Lock No.1 was less of a hit with me, but I still appreciated Simenon’s brilliant evocation of time and place; it was the plot (and some of the attitudes) that I found more of a challenge.

So if you need cheering up, I recommend a visit to your local library. Don’t be too picky, choose some books you’ve never heard of – you might discover a new favourite, and even if you don’t you can feel pleased with yourself for supporting this wonderful service.

And do join in with Rebecca’s meme. You can write about any aspect of libraries; here are some of her suggestions (and you can read more about it on her excellent blog here.)

• Photos or a list of your latest library book haul
• An account of a visit to a new-to-you library
• Full-length or mini reviews of some recent library reads
• A description of a particular feature of your local library
• A screenshot of the state of play of your online account
• An opinion piece about library policies (e.g. Covid procedures or fines amnesties)
• A write-up of a library event you attended, such as an author reading or book club.