Catherine over at Seeking Susan, Meeting Marie has started a weekly theme called Thursday Thoughts. I don't guarantee to play along each week, but here is this week's offering, albeit a day late.
Earlier in this week I was reading a post on another blog, I can not remember whose blog (sorry). I read the post and mentally moved along. Later on I was in my study looking for a book when I came across a book that I once been a library book but had been sold off. I picked up the book and turned to the back cover.
Inside was a small brown cardboard section, securely fixed that had once held a ticket. My mind cast back to those days when I used to frequent a library at Guildford, my home town. Then borrowers were allowed 6 books and were entrusted to hold onto 6 card, each one representing a book. When you checked the book out, it was stamped and the card which was held in the brown cardboard section at the back of the book was then attached to the library ticket.
When you returned the books, you were handed round discs, in pink I think they were, the number you were given was determined by the books you returned. If you did not want any books, then you were handed your tickets.
How labour intensive that was. I remember being issued with my Surrey library ticket with a bar code on and being told that I could now have 12 books on loan. Everything was done quicker, simply by scanning the card and the book with a electronic mouse typed pen.
Since then, the process has become even slicker with renewals and reservations available on line, not to mention library catalogue and access to various on line facilities.
Isn't the world of book reading and borrowing a wonderful place, revolutionised by the Internet? Despite this brilliant technological change I still have great memories of my early library borrowing days.
Me too! This post brought back memories that I had not thought about in awhile.
ReplyDeleteThanks Carol for stopping by.
DeleteThanks for the memories Julie, and it waan't so very long ago either. Now we can borrow ebooks...must toddle to the library to learn more about it.
ReplyDeleteOh, it is indeed Julie. Back in 1995 when I signed up my class of 5,6,&7 year olds and trotted them over weekly to our Local Library I marvelled at the changes from my childhood to theirs... and now it's taken off like a whirlwind.
ReplyDeleteI especially love seeing the bank of computers so folks, in our "low socio economic area" can access the internet and the staff on standby to provide advice/ instructions.
Thanks for the reminding.
G'day Julie... It's been fun to read your Thursday Thoughts. So that others can enjoy them too I've put a page on my blog which is available on the menu at the top of each page. It's titled "Sharing Our Thursday Thoughts" and is where I'll put links to all posts. This is the direct link.
ReplyDeletehttp://caiteile.com/sharing-our-thursday-thoughts/
Thanks for joining in... and of course there's no committment for a weekly post but sure is great fun to read other people's thoughts that don't necessarily relate directly to Genealogy / Family History... Cheerio for now. Catherine.
Thanks Catherine, I have enjoyed writing them and have just finished this weeks! Lovely, I will look at the link and see who else has participated.
DeleteI agree the change Catherine in libraries has been great. I have always loved libraries. Nothing is more irritating that visiting a library in an area that I do not have a ticket and stumbling across a super book! - Stuart rolls his eyes when I mention library as he knows there is no such thing as a quick visit. I remind him,it equates to his fishing comment of "just one more cast" - then we are equal!