Libraries are cool

I spent the day in the library today.

This post is not about libraries, per se; I'm not THAT boring.  So please keep reading, if you are so inclined.  I just noticed recently, when reading a series of email correspondences, that I have been starting all my sentences with "I."  I this, I that, my world has become very small as of late.  Time to expand my surroundings, perhaps?

Libraries kick ass.  (After my 10th viewing of "Party Girl," I pretended I was Parker Posey and would practice runway up and down the library's aisles.)  So today, after getting my shiny new library card, I was briefed on all the services available to a county resident/taxpayer such as myself.  Did you know you can check out FREE MOVIES at the library?  Did you know you get FREE INTERNET ACCESS at the library?  Did you know that there are books of naked men nude art at the library?  The librarian didn't tell me that one, I found it on my own.  The world is full of wonders, I tell you.  Researching stuff on Google is handy, yes.  But like Wal-Mart, Google may provide you with everything you need--but it's just so fuckin' BORING.  Learning facts does not automatically make you smarter, people.

After reading several of Edward Gorey's books and laughing out loud, I succumbed to the shushing-stares of the evil librarian lady, and took myself out of the kids' literature section.  Instead, I perused various newspapers and magazines from around our nation.

• According to the Chicago Tribune, gay men who get high on crystal meth are more likely to partake in random sexual encounters, and these encounters are far less likely to include "safer sex" practices.  Word to the Chicago Tribune: NO SHIT.  Straight people have their own version of this "getting wasted makes you horny and stupid" phenomenon, too: they call it "Beer Goggles."
• According to the Christian Science Monitor, Anne Frank's apartment in Amsterdam is being renovated to provide housing for asylum-seeking refugees who are writers.  When they flee their homeland and escape whatever problem they're escaping, they can come to Amsterdam, live in Anne Frank's actual apartment for a while to get their lives together, and write about their experiences.  Pretty cool, I say.
• According to Midwest Living magazine, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the snowiest inhabited place in the U.S. east of the Rockies.  O.K., that was really boring.  Moving on--
• According to Time Magazine, 1 billion people live in extreme poverty; 8 million people die each year because they are "too poor to survive."  In the same magazine:  "Robots" is a good movie (I wholeheartedly disagree; it was awful.)  Also, when Bachelorette Jen rejected ALL of her suitors and refused to marry anyone from "The Bachelorette," it was a great step forward for feminism!  I'm sure Gloria Steinem is thrilled.)  Oh, and Denise Richards filed for divorce from Charlie Sheen!

As a result of the Patriot Act, the government now has the right to subpoena all your library records, to see what kinds of books you're checking out.  When people check out books on anything to do with terrorism, such as bomb-making (yes, weird) or Islam or even terrorist-related events in history, they are questioned and sometimes accused of being un-American, etc.  They are then tagged as possible terrorism suspects, and their actions are monitored.  Have you ever read a book that could raise some eyebrows?  I certainly have.  I took classes in college on Islamic culture.  And I saw a really cool special about bomb-making on the History Channel once.  Yikes.  (pause to look around to see if I'm under surveillance now)

So when the government of Kansas requested all libraries submit the names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. of the people in their databases, the librarians from the tiny little town of Hays, KS refused.  They said people, unless they are suspected of committing a crime, have the right to privacy--and reading a damned book is NEVER a crime, even if it is on bomb-making.  The Feds then came to the library and demanded the stuff, but the librarians stood their ground and wouldn't hand it over.  And then they stayed up all night and shredded all the personal information they had on their library's patrons, so the Feds couldn't get it.  Ha ha.  I like sassy librarians.  Fuck you, Patriot Act. 

I went to an awards ceremony a few weeks ago for these Hays, KS librarians, where they were recognized for their hard work and courage against an over-zealous government.  Everyday people can often commit acts of extreme bravery, and they usually do it without even realizing it.  They just do it because they feel something needs to be fixed.

Go patronize your local library sometime, check something out.  The more checkouts they get, the more money they get to buy books and movies that you can read/watch for FREE.  Just don't laugh out loud, it disturbs the peace.

I'm off to watch American Idol.  Poor Mario Vasquez, quitting and stuff.  I guess he ran out of hats to wear and he could no longer sing.

Hugs.

Comments

[manogirl]

As a librarian-in-training, I really appreciate this. Now do you think you could tell people to please vote for referendums in their community that grant funding to libraries? (I'm not normally this boring either!, but needs must.)
Libraries are dying, and not just because of the Patriot Act (though it is particularly odious to librarians). People think that Google does it all--and that's so far from the truth! If libraries die, what will that mean for our communities? Free information is soooo important. (And nudie books too, of course.)
Mano
(and I'm only 25! Sometimes young people actually work in libraries and love them. Don't forget the atrociously good movie "Party Girl" with Parker Posey!)

[Alex]

Great post, sometimes we forget our freedoms in the everyday world. It's one person standing up, they truly hold up our democracy.

[Sara]

First I must say that I was so glad to see you beat Jon in the Inferno, go Dan! :o)

Just a little warning...When checking out movies from the library, never lose them for an extended period of time. I managed to lose a movie for about a year (while moving) and ended up with a $54 fine. Yikes!

[Cody]

I watched the Inferno tonight and had somewhat of a, I guess you would call it, spiritual moment.

Seeing Big Gay Dan take down Jon, who represents Big Man Jesus, made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Thank you Dan for giving me enlightenment. For tonight we learned that in the end, Gay triumphs God.

Amen.

[True Man]

Dan,

Congratulations on beating one of only two people on the Inferno II who has morals. People who wear their religion on their sleeves suck. I know more people than Julie and Jon have morals, so :-p

Isn't the library great? Do watch out for those fines. According to yesterday's Kansas City Star (yeah, my periodical perusing doesn't extend that far), JoCo collected more than a half-million last year in library fines.

Keep being brave and reading what you like. Nutjob Phil Kline won't bring us down.

[Melissa]

Libraries rule. Free books to borrow.It's like having a whole bunch of cool friends.

[Beth]

Libraries do kick so much ass. I have grown especially addicted to the little book stores attached to them where you can find all sorts of cool books for a quarter or fifty cents each. I've gotten lots of hardcovers and bestsellers that I would have spend mega-bucks on otherwise.

Also, I don't know about everyone else, but about 50% of the books I buy end up being lame-ish and wasted $$. So libraries save you a lot of cash that way, too. It's easy to look up (online) certain titles and request them to be sent right to your neighborhood!

OK, now I know I'm a real dork cuz I am actually refraining myself right now from going on FURTHER about libraries.

At least I am in good company though...

And, unless my TIVO is fucking with me, you've probably discovered that American Idol isn't on tonight. Right? RIGHT??!??!?!

[Amber]

ooooooooo "Party Girl" is a great movie! I just saw it for the first time last night. I love it.

[The Spikester]

LOL @ the Mario Vasquez remark. Maybe now he can indulge in spending some quality time in a library or two. Thanx for the laugh, Dan!

[AyEnDeeAreEeAyAitch]

Rock on with your bad library self! And good job in the challenge! Too bad American idol wasn't on last night, Nanny911 was instead!

[hockeyrules]

I've actually used the library in Hays Kansas, one of the many stops I made while driving cross country three years ago. Free internet access at public libraries allowed me to keep in touch with my friends. You wanna know where freedom is really on the march? It's at the library. Nice post, Dan.

[Wendy]

You kicked ass in the Inferno! You're right: I think that the Miz was avoiding you.

As yet another library employee (student assistant librarian on a small college campus), you'd be surprised what you'll find. We are mostly a business/nursing campus, yet we have loads of books on witchcraft, horror movies, and sex. It's a lot of fun to see some of the bizarre things we carry, especially in this little Coastal Georgia college campus in what almost amounts to Mayberry.

[Brian]

Hmm, do queer writers from the U.S. qualify for asylum yet? Because I would sure rather be eating a hash brownie in a cafe in Amsterdam than hanging around here waiting for the Feds to start rounding us up.

[erin]

1) libraries rock.
2) i haven't set foot in one in about five years because i lost three books & feared i was being watched.
3) i will now attempt to obtain a library card in a totally different county & area (since i moved away from the other one)
4) i'm so happy you beat christian jon in the inferno. looks like he burned in hell.
5) what was up with julie bawling her eyes out about all this? jesus! first she annoys me in one challenge, then i like her in the next one, then she annoys me all over again. nevermind. sticking with original plan of annoyed.
6) hot toddy loves you. he wants to put you in his toaster oven.

[Boris]

I don't think the Christian Science Monitor is right about the Anne Frank thing, at least not completely. The house they lived in is currently a museum and you can visit the parts where they were all stuck together and I don't think they'll change that. However they may have bought some property next to it to put those writers there so it's sort of true...

ok, I'm boring we've established that... :)

[Josh]

Dan,

Read past issues of the Chicago Tribune to understand why the story was published. The Tribune was acting on concerns raised by the gay community. In the past few weeks, two of the city's "leading gay community leaders" have been arrested. One for allegedly distributing the drug, the other for murder (he had a dispute with a cab driver over the fare, pulled the driver out of the cab and ran him over). Friends say that meth made him do it. The article does not flatter the gay community and encourages the "they get what they deserve" mentality (meth users may be getting a new strand of HIV that does not respond to drug therapy) BUT someone must acknowledge the problem to educate the public. Gay men DO read, but smart gay men react.