We’re now on the fourth month of the Love Your Library feature. First, my thanks to Mary R. of Bibliographic Manifestations for her post on the libraries she has known and loved, and Naomi M. of Consumed by Ink for her reviews of recent books she’s read from the library. Karen of Booker Talk let me share this photo she took of a beautifully refurbished chapel-turned-library local to her.
Rosemary of Scones and Chaises Longues also sent me a photo of her latest library book haul.
I’ve been back to my library volunteering this month and am starting to amass borrowed books and hold requests. In keeping with my goal of prioritizing backlist books over brand-new ones, I’ve been picking up whatever catches my eye, including some releases from last year that I missed, and some older stuff, too. All volunteers were recently given this tote bag as a thank-you.
As to what I’ve actually read from the library recently, it’s mostly selections from the Costa Awards shortlists. I read the full poetry shortlist, two as review copies and two from the library. My preferred title was Eat or We Both Starve, but The Kids (a mixed-race author’s memories of kids she’s taught, and her own coming of age, and a potential antidote to the Kate Clanchy debacle?) won. I also read Free by Lea Ypi, a delightful memoir about growing up in Albania in the 1980s and 90s that has scenes and dialogue worthy of fiction, and Fault Lines by Emily Itami, a debut novel wryly narrated by a Tokyo housewife having an affair. I’m currently halfway through Maggie Blue and the Dark World by Anna Goodall, an enjoyable middle grade novel reminiscent of classic Madeleine L’Engle and C.S. Lewis fantasy but updated to cover bullying, mental health issues and same-sex attraction.
Do share a link to your own post in the comments, and feel free to use the image below. I’ve co-opted a hashtag that is already popular on Twitter and Instagram: #LoveYourLibrary.
Here’s a reminder of my ideas of what you might choose to post (this list will stay up on the project page):
- 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.
If it’s related to libraries, I want to hear about it!
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
Thanks for including my photo. Embarrassed to see the typo in my Twitter message which should have read “retained” not “trained”. I hate predictive text! I spotted Disaster Tourist in your stack – what did you think of it? I read it last year.
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No worries, social media is always a little more casual than other settings.
I haven’t gotten to The Disaster Tourist yet. Perhaps next month.
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[…] For Bookish Beck’s Love your Library. […]
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It’s my morning to go and volunteer at our library too: What shall I be doing? Today’s ‘pick list’? Sorting out the book boxes with books from other branches for loan or return? A bit of shelving? Perhaps I could write about it all next month. Meanwhile, this is my post for today: https://margaret21.com/2022/01/31/love-your-library-visits-valencia/
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Those all sound like familiar and fun tasks. That’ll be me tomorrow morning!
What a gorgeous library in Valencia. Thanks for giving us a tour. I always appreciate your participation in Love Your Library.
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I got the best bits this morning. I found three must-read books, two of which I didn’t previously know about, through shelving. I’ve found do many thoroughly worthwhile books that way, all in areas of the library I wouldn’t otherwise have frequented.
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Oh, I love the chapel library! I am hoping to make some use of my local libraries this week, though as you know they can be quite hit and miss. I am loving the children/YA fiction collection in the university library though, maybe I should write about that!
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Ah, so that explains the comic of you reading SVU at the uni library 😉 The University of Reading has a big “Teaching Practice” collection that I’ve sometimes had my husband borrow children’s and YA books from for me.
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We have a special children’s and YA lit collection, but it’s almost all from the 1980s onwards – it’s like walking into my teen bedroom! Sadly they are not borrowable.
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I posted my library haul on an Instagram story yesterday, completely forgetting to take part in this! NExt month…
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I see the photo of your daughter in the stacks 🙂 I don’t think I’m able to retrieve a story, but a photo or Tweet would work. I’d be happy to add you into the roundup for next month.
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I’ll share it now and tag you in – not that it is very exciting!
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We just found your blog by accident and are happy about it 🙂
We run a little public library in our village on the basis of free public bookstalls ( see: https://fabfourblog.com/2021/09/02/book-sale-in-cley-church/)
We worked at big libraries at the Stiftsbibliothek of St. Gallen famous for its middle eval manuscript, the university library Uppsala and the library of Wolfenbüttel both famous for their manuscripts.
We are collectors of books and manuscripts. We did a series of Libraries in Dublin years ago
https://fabfourblog.com/2012/12/02/chester-beatty-library-dublin/
https://fabfourblog.com/2012/11/28/postcard-from-marshs-library-dublin/
Keep well
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Thank you for paying my blog a visit. What an enticing book sale you put on at your local church! Stumbling across such an event would have made my day. I hope my library will start to host sales of its withdrawn stock again. It’s been a number of years since they did so. Eventually we are also going to have a Little Free Library in my neighbourhood, which I will curate.
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What a lovely library you shared! I’m glad you liked my post. Am a bit behind schedule for the next one, but will get to it this week.
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Great! Do leave me a link when you post.
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You’ve done such a fine job of revitalizing this monthly celebration.
I look forward to reading it every month! 🙂
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Thanks!
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Ooo… I see What Strange Paradise. And Dorothy Whipple. And I remember Marcie reading The Disaster Tourist!
I love the idea of turning an old church into a library! A town in NS did that a couple of years ago, but I haven’t been down to see it yet.
Thanks for tagging me! 🙂
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I’m over halfway through the Whipple and enjoying it — it’s so cosy to spend some time in another century. I haven’t gotten to What Strange Paradise yet but I hope I will soon.
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This month I am celebrating ILL: http://bibliographicmanifestations.blogspot.com/2022/02/i-love-interlibrary-loan.html
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Thank you, Mary. I’ll feature your link at the end of the month. When I lived in Maryland, statewide ILLs were free and I took full advantage! I read many gems that way. Are they free where you are?
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ILL is absolutely free among public libraries in NH (and some other libraries that also join in).
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Wow, that’s terrific! Over here in the UK, at least in my library system, it costs £3 per book, at which point you think you might as well just buy a secondhand copy instead.
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A lovely library you shared
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