I heart AADL

A quick little random post tonight to talk about my love of all things library. I think I have a secret obsession with libraries. In Rochester where I grew up, they built a giant monstrosity of a building that makes over a million transactions a year. I loved getting lost amongst the books in that place, studying in a private room, surfing the net back before my dad believed in computers, and just generally expanding my brain in a space full of knowledge. In fact, I loved the RHPL so much, that for a few summers and after school evenings, I even got a job there! Oh how I enjoyed sorting those books...
But then I moved onto cooler jobs for a high schooler, went off to college where I grew tired of acedemic library space, and finally moved to Milan, where I didn't even think about considering the library system before buying a house. What a mistake that was. I think my house has a bigger square footage than the library here. And forget about checking out anything even remotely new or worthwhile (sidenote: why do I pay such high taxes again??). For a long time, I gave up all hope of ever enjoying borrowing again, and started my flirtation with amazon's free shipping.
Something happened last summer though. After living for a brief while in Ann Arbor, I discovered that gave me resident status, and resident status meant free use of a district's libraries. At first I was overwhelmed and intimidated (why exactly are there 5+ library branches again? Can't we house everything in one giant building?), but then how my heart soared. Different branches around the AADL means there's an awesome intra-library transportation system, and even awesomer online ordering. Which means I could sit on the comfort of my couch, reading the best seller lists on my laptop, then immediately order those items to be picked up at my leisure at my preferred library branch, AND I even got an email alerting me of an item's arrival. How cool is that?
My love for tonight was sparked because I finally actually went and browsed around the new Traverwood branch of the AADL instead of just ordering things online for pickup. [Although I no longer live in AA (back in Milan for a while now), I just pay a non-resident fee that still gives me full use of all the library benefits.] Needless to say, I was impressed! I forgot how much I love just wandering around the cookbook section, and was pleasantly surprised at the sheer volume of DVD's available. Who knew I could get the entire series of Six Feet Under at the local AADL? Try finding that in Milan. Seriously, try. Anyway, I'm in a fantastic mood tonight because libraries make me happy, so I thought I'd post a little about my nerd love. Now you know. Don't say I didn't warn you.