Everyone got a story to tell

Library books. Always loved them. I remember when I was a kid, mom took me to the big library in Skedsmo, then it was at Skedsmokorset. We went there all the time. They had heaps of books, shelfs three times bigger than me. It was a forest of adventure. People playing chess, people reading in comfy chairs, people studying with books balancing on the edge of the table. No computers, lots of pens and paper. And the best of all, they had huge stuffed animals. I loved playing with them, jumping all over the place on my pink horse. I loved sitting in the corner among many blue pillows flipping through picture books or having mom read to me. One of my favourite books that I can remember was The Brothers Lionheart. Libraries should be like that. When I got older I used to love the stamp cards inside the books. You could always check when somebody else had borrowed the book, if it was a popular one or if it had been sitting on the shelf for years waiting for me to pick it up. It's sad that they don't do that anymore. Some of the charm is lost. And don't even think of laminating the books. I prefer an appreciated book with scars and history behind it. So I have an idea, what if we start a new system to give the books some history. What if we put lists in all the books again, everyone that borrows them can fill out the date they borrow it, and maybe something about themselves and why they are interested in this particular book, like I'm reading a book now for a school project so I could write:

23/09/09

Norwegian student

Studying BA of arts

Listening to Placebo

Short, simple. In a way you get to know other library people and you get to know the book and it's history. I mean, we are so good at de-personalising things. Making things more cost effective, giving service jobs to kiosks and making shore the chairs aren’t too comfy because then people will sit and sip theirs coffees all day and we don’t want that, no. I think many people would appreciate a tiny bit more human contact, a smile, a conversation or a life full library card, so how about making things a bit more personal again.