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Time Enough At Last


Finding time to read seems to be an issue if you are not the type to make it a priority. Really, though, I think the major obstacle to finding time to read is not Life itself, but the television. I try to limit my TV viewing. Time is so precious to me, I can't squander hours away in front of the box. Not only am I a parent of two little girls, I work full time, and attend college full time. The best thing that ever happened to me was the invention of the digital recorder. I can tape my shows and watch them on my schedule. Some of the TV shows I find worth my time are: Torchwood, Lost, Doctor Who, Pushing Daisies, and My Name Is Earl. I'm not loyal to any of them, and a great book takes precedence over watching TV. Last year I managed to read sixty four books. This was the lowest total for me in years, but my Fall semester was reading intensive and I don't count textbooks in my final total. I also do not count my YA reads, but I read quite a lot of them to stay on top of what the library has to offer teens. I have been known to read in line at stores, at the park while the kids play, and while waiting for my terminally late friend to arrive for our lunch date (I kind of count on that time). I also take the light rail to and from school and manage to sneak in a few chapters on the ride. Most of my reading takes place in bed before I go to sleep. This a carry over from childhood when I read throughout the night with my flashlight under the covers. The next day would find me laying exhausted on my desk feeling lethargic and counting the hours until I could return to my story.
A side story:
The library is the best resource any neighborhood can offer. Books, magazines, movies, and Internet all free from one cozy place, I can go on and on about how great it is but most readers know that already. The stack of books I have on my night table, all arranged and waiting to be read, would have cost me one hundred and fifty dollars had I ran out and bought them. And then there is the matter of the storage of the tomes when I'm done with them. When I first started at the library I had four bookcases full of books, and I came up with this brilliant idea to donate some of my books to the library. Surely they would welcome my rare finds as they were absent in the collection! Unfortunately the library ended up putting my donations right into the book sale and, as a result, I ended up buying my own books back. Well, we live and learn.

Comments

Andrea said…
How did you get your job at the library? I was wondering if you went to school and got a degree or volunteered first. I had an interview at my local library and didn't get the job. The man who interviewed me said I should volunteer and then I'd have a better chance of getting a job in the future. Now that my other job options have fallen through, I'm thinking about applying at Barnes & Noble to work part-time and volunteering at the library until I hopefully get a job there, but I'm not sure how long I'd have to volunteer before I qualify for a job.
Unknown said…
I lucked out and put an application in at the main branch. When the local library called I was shocked, I hadn't known they existed. Here I'd been driving twenty minutes to what I thought was my branch for years. Every state had different laws, I am not allowed to call myself a librarian until I have a masters degree in Library Science, so I am a library aide. I'm in school now, still working on my bachelors (in History), then right to grad school. Several of our employees were volunteers before they were hired. I just came at the right time. They were desperate LOL! Lots of places you wouldn't think of have libraries. Companies like Lockheed Martin and military bases do too. My girlfriend (who is also not a librarian) works at the U of Penn in the dental library. She makes more than me and gets to take classes for free. Can you try other branches of your library system first? Someone else may need you. I started part time and waited three years until they could make me full time. The money SUCKS but I actually love my job. Keep me posted.
Kristie said…
We sound like we have a lot in common. TV and school definitely used to impact my reading time. Now with the writer's strike and just graduating has freed up some more reading time.

I so hear you on the times under the covers sneaking and reading way past my bedtime! My mom found some old pictures of me back when I was about eight years old and I had to take a picture and I was so mad because I was reading. That summed up my childhood. I used to bring a book with me when I went out to dinner and my parents would yell at me to put it away. Good times.

Welcome to blogging!
Unknown said…
Thanks for your kind comments! I look forward to checking in on what everyone is reading, if only to get some new titles! Are you doing any challenges? And do you use a counter on your blog? Do you have one you recommend? Thanks
Kristie said…
I don't know how to do anything with my blog. I don't even know how to add pictures and the like. I am blog illiterate. LOL. I have wanted to join challenges, but I hate feeling like I have to read something. And I tend to be somewhat of a perfectionist and I hate when I don't finish what I started. I set my own mini challenges.

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