Writing in the Library

~ Laura

I'm off to the library to get in my daily hour of writing time. I'm working on a large writing project and for some reason, I can't do it at home. I have to use the computers at the public library. I carry around my stick of gum memory card and try to remember to back up the files at home. It's stupid, but I'm on a hot streak, and like any baseball player, I know not to mess with a hot streak.

Last week, I stopped to think about how many phlegm-covered fingers had touched that keyboard on the library computer. That thought kept me away for a few days. After a few days of failed work at home, I returned. I'll just have to carry around one of those bottle of germ-be-gone stuff.

Over the years, I've spent a lot of time in public libraries. The old grad school building was right across the street from the main branch of the NYC public library, and I used the Inwood branch library often. I've had my wallet stolen in the NYC public library, sat next to a guy with Tourette's syndrome, and smelled the sweet odors of a homeless man.

Suburban libraries are also full of odd people.  Last week, some guy sat next to me with the music blasting through his ear buds. It was Christopher Cross's Sail Away. That was horrific enough, but then he began to sing along.

So, I'm off. It's a lazy blogging day. I have a post of links for later in the day. In the meantime, read this lovely article in the Chronicle by a father of a boy with cerebral palsy. (Thanks, Jeremy S.)

Published by Laura

6 thoughts on “Writing in the Library”

  2. When my mom was a librarian, her library had a guard to deal with the homeless people. Basically, they were required to read (or look like they were reading) if they wanted to stay inside. If they closed their eyes, they got kicked out. I think if they stayed in the bathroom for very long, the guard would go in. This situation probably wasn’t very good for the librarian, the patrons, the homeless people or the guard.

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  3. Sailing, not Sail away. I had to laugh ’cause I loved that song when I was a teen, in the 80s (in Brazil).
    And “funnier” (or maybe depressing since I now feel awful for having liked the song) that I actually bought a Christopher Cross CD in the late 90s (paying just shipping — through that BMG music club) because of that one song. (We bought CDs because we stupidly missed the Napster boat until it was too late — we only used Morpheus a few times and then that was gone too)
    Anyway… I played the song on Youtube while writing this comment. Sigh. It just brings me back to those awful teenage years. oh well.
    public libraries in this country are AWESOME. I got lots of reading done in my first year here in the U.S. (1997) because of them.

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  4. I love libraries. I had stopped going for a while (probably Amazon related). Then I discovered an old booklist from about 10 years ago, of books I’d been reading. I realized how much more variety I read when I went to the library, and so decided to check out the library again.
    Now I’ve become a regular visitor again. There’s something about the space itself, surrounded by books, that energizes me: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/135
    I can’t imagine using their computers, though, but then, I’m really really fussy about computers, which I pretty much regard as being as personal as toothbrushes.
    You might be interested in this: http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/03/Self-sanitizing_keyboard_rids_itself_of_germs_helps_prevent_disease_41180472.html
    It’s about a UV keyboard that ‘s being developed by the husband of a Seattle blogger: http://www.sundrymourning.com/. I think it’s a great idea, but the startup is having trouble getting off the ground.
    (sorry, I don’t know how to make inline links)

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  5. but then, I’m really really fussy about computers, which I pretty much regard as being as personal as toothbrushes.
    Unlike a toothbrush, you can’t just wash a computer in soapy water before you let somebody else use it.

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  6. I can’t use public computers unless desperate not because of the germs but because I have my browsers totally customized to my needs, and I can’t deal with all the restrictions and generic browsers on public computers.

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