Love Your Library

Rebecca of Bookish Beck fame has a monthly challenge – Love your Library. She uses her own post to tell us what she has read, what she is reading, what she gave up on or never even started, and what she’ll read next. That’s what I’ll do too.

But first. Why do I love my library? Well, I’m lucky. Our County Council still prioritises books. It’s not often that we have a week when no new stock comes into our branch. New releases; books that have won some literary prize; works in translation; books from small indie publishers; old favourites and non-fiction of all kinds all get a look in.

These days, our libraries run on a mixture of professional staff and volunteers: some smaller libraries are entirely volunteer-run. And I’m a volunteer at our local, bigger library. I love it. First of all, it’s easy to get first dibs on new stock. But the tasks are varied. Processing books from other libraries requested by our own readers. Sending copies of books we stock to other libraries who’ve requested them. Helping the public with queries about books; parking; local clubs; photocopying …. And shelving. Always shelving. But that’s OK. Being shallow, I often judge a book by its cover, and I rarely get through a morning without finding something appetising to borrow. To go with the dozen or more I usually have on reserve.

And anyway, on the morning I usually volunteer there’s a pre-school music group in the children’s section, and I’ll find myself singing along (strictly to myself) to ‘Hola! A todos aqui‘, or ‘Row, row, row your boat‘, as I wander round with my book trolley, shelving. Friends turn up to change their books. We have a quick chat. The morning passes quickly.

So. What have I read during November? Normally I’ll do a mini-review, but this post is quite long enough already, so star-ratings will have to do.

  • Magpie Murders: Anthony Horowitz ⭐⭐
  • Carte Blanche: Carlo Lucarelli (Translated by Michael Reynolds) ⭐⭐⭐⭐*
  • Peace on the Western Front: Mattia Signorini (Translated by Vicki Satlow) ⭐⭐⭐*
  • A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better: Benjamin Wood ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • The Rich People Have Gone Away: Regina Porter ⭐⭐⭐
  • The Dinner Party: Viola van de Sandt ⭐⭐⭐
  • The Frozen River: Ariel Lawhon ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Run Me to Earth: Paul Yoon⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • The Penelopiad: Margaret Atwood ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐*
  • The Wax Child: Olga Ravn (Translated by Martin Aitken) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐*
  • The Silver Book: Olivia Laing ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Burnt Shadows: Kamila Shamsie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Before you say that seems a lot, remember that 4 (marked *) are novellas, and therefore short, reviewed here. But you’re right. This has been a book-heavy month.

Borrowed and yet to be read, or currently being read:

  • A Short History of America: from Tea Party to Trump: Simon Jenkins
  • Reward System: Jem Calder
  • Close Range: Wyoming Stories: Annie Proulx
  • The North Road: Rob Cowen

As I have nine books on reserve, it’s possible some of the already-borrowed books may end up unread. You can never tell. Some books I reserve come straight away. Some take so long I’d forgotten I’d reserved them. One hasn’t even been published yet!

I DID abandon a couple of books, but I forgot to note them down, and they went out of my head the second they got back to the library.

So that’s my month in books … and in my library. I took most of the shots in the minutes before the library opened, in order not to ruffle any feathers. Actually, it’s well-used and should look rather more peopled. But at least nobody’s been upset by being photographed on a bad-hair day.

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

54 thoughts on “Love Your Library”

    1. With plastic-paged books so you can read while swimming perhaps?? Those of us with thriving libaries are lucky. While on my travels in England I’ve seen several that are surviving on tatty, dog eared stock that’s rarely updated. Names are withheld to protect the innocent.

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      1. That’s amusing! Like bath books for babies. Yes, am sure there will be some areas where libraries are neglected. Stockport now has its central library in the main shopping precinct and called Stockroom. Lots of spaces, sitting areas and not vast amount of books.

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      3. Oh yes, why not as Bolton close by. We are around till end of January. My daughter now works part time there at the university with trainee nurse practitioner’s albeit she can mostly work from home. Also in laws family grew up in Bolton.

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  2. You are anything but shallow, my dear. I wish I had your capacity to read so avidly and still have a life. I struggle to do both. Our tastes obviously differ but I’m always fascinated to learn what you’ve read and I enjoy your reviews. Is this library in Ripon? No cultural backwater, for sure xx

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    1. It is in Ripon, and we’re lucky to have this bright modern space. Yes, probably our tastes differ, but that’s what makes libraries interesting. There’s room for us all. My tip for getting the reading hours in? Fail to sleep in the night. Reading’s what 3.00 a.m.’s for.

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  4. Your library certainly looks an asset, Margaret. Like Jo, “wish I had your capacity to read so avidly and still have a life” I have noted a couple of titles down that look interesting..

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  5. We used to have a lovely library in an old building, with three floors and old creaky wooden steps. But the council built a new modern building and moved the library there..only the new building is now used as a ‘drop in centre’ so it is very noisy and they have got rid of most of the books. They have some old antiquarian books behind a locked glass cabinet that they will reluctantly let you browse in the library but not take out.

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  6. Good morning Margaret, your November list is impressive as always. I have a book I started in November but have yet to finish. I’m working on it. You do keep yourself busy and that library looks like a fun place to spend a morning. You make a difference in your community. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  7. Your description of your tasks in the library take me straight back to my days working in libraries – and yes, there is always shelving. But a lot of shelving = a library well-used and loved 🙂

    It’s good to see such a vibrant and active library too. In my later working life as a consultant I supported councils in trying to keep libraries going despite the huge financial challenges they face, and this is the perfect example of what we tried to achieve.

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  8. Thanks for your wonderful post! Your library is larger than I expected it to be. It looks logically laid out and easy to use. My volunteering falls on ‘Rhyme Time’ morning as well. I’ll have to seek out that Benjamin Wood (my only one still unread by him) and I’ve always meant to try Paul Yoon. I’m glad the novellas you chose for last month were rewarding.

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  10. I still think that’s a lot of reading, novellas or not! My most recent reading includes books by two of my old favourites, Patrick Gale and Emma Donoghue, and I am currently reading a nonfiction title, Eleanor by Alice Loxton. Eleanor of Castile was the wife of Edward I who was so distraught at her death he built 12 crosses at the points her funeral cortège rested on the way from Lincoln to London. The author decides to walk the route. It certainly shows a new side to Edward, Hammer of the Scots! (And Welsh).

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    1. ‘Eleanor’ sounds good. If you’d like some fiction in a similar vein, I can recommend Annie Garthwaite’s two books based on the life of Richard III’s mother Cecily: ‘Cecily’, and ‘The King’s Mother’. No particular Scottish slant though! Yep, I’m a fan of Donoghue and even more of Patrick Gale.

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    1. No, I should think you don’t have any free time! I’m no good with audio books. I come to and realise I haven’t been concentrating: in fact I’ve lost the plot.

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      1. Yes, very lucky. I used to have a good one but since moving to a more rural area here in Germany, the library is quite small, has only prints in German and therefore, the choice for me is rather small. But my TBR is endless, so no harm done.

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  14. In truth, racism here is not so much where both communities live cheek by jowl, but in those communities which are not multi-ethnic. There is a greater fear of black faces in towns like mine, which is overwhelmingly white, than in more mixed communities. Now however, after decades of growing integration, the extreme right is peddling fear and distrust, ‘them’ and ‘us’. It’s very frightening.

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