As a kid, I was always checking out the maximum number of books from my school library. The few times I ventured to my county library, I was met with a lack of selection and books that smelled of something ?rotting.
The types and amount of resources a library provides makes all the difference.
You’re not going to go back to a library that never has the newest releases and still uses dial-up on the desktops.
Although the characters on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” would say otherwise, the library is a magical place for readers when it’s done right.
It’s almost like home base for the book-lover community.
Fortunately, I attend a university that grasps this concept.
Herman B Wells Library contains 4.6 million volumes in entirety, which is far more than any student could possibly read during his or her college career.
Wells Library is the 13th-largest university library in the country, meaning it’s also the biggest library in the whole state.
You can imagine my excitement coming to school as a freshman with a library like this at my fingertips.
The idea of a library may seem icky.
I mean, who doesn’t buy their own books? Sheesh. But it’s simply senseless to pass up such an overflowing supply.
This library is the oasis, the mecca of the Midwest of libraries.
If you’ve never stepped foot into Wells Library as a student, you at least know what it is and use it as a landmark when giving people directions.
Also, please don’t be fooled by the rumors that it’s sinking.
That monster of a library sits on 94 feet of limestone bedrock and likely will not be descending any time soon.
Selections in this library are endless, so if you say you don’t have anything to read, you’re lying.
The stacks in Wells are some of the few places on campus where you can escape the crowd and devolve in silence.
Honestly, the lack of people in the stacks worries me a little. As a ghost town, it makes me think many of these books are collecting dust.
Unfortunately, the construction next door at the new School of Global and International Studies has reared its head into the quiet atmosphere required of any respectable library.
So if you feel like changing up your library scene, Monroe County Public Library is another gem Bloomington has to offer.
It’s much bigger than any county library I’ve been to, and it has plenty of events throughout the week for all readers.
These libraries allow something vital for the book world: they’re free and open to the public.
That’s right, it’s the magical word every college student, or any person alive for that matter, likes to hear. It’s free.
The point of this free and able access is the idea that we want the public to be educated.
Even if you don’t attend the University, Wells Library is open to all who wish to use it.
Not all countries in the world provide their people with access to knowledge, so letting resources like libraries go to waste is careless.
Even if books aren’t your thing, Wells Library and the Monroe County Library house selections of media such as movies and ?magazines.
So this week, take a look, a real look, around your libraries. Take a walk through Wells Library’s stacks and check out a book.
We have these places for a reason, and we should use them.
