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the far side of winchester center
Aug. 30th, 2005 06:49 amA few months ago, I was deeply concerned about the town of Arlington keeping enough library funding and services to maintain its membership in the Minuteman Library Network. Since I discovered audiobooks, and then the story of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin (Tull version, I'm a particular junkie), I've become quite dependent on audiobooks sent from other libraries through MLN. I suppose it's slow, compared to reading the books one right after the other when you have them on the shelf. But it was a lot faster than sailing ships, anyhow. I was deeply relieved when Arlington passed the tax increase with the new budget, and our MLN membership seemed secure for another 2 years.
Yesterday, I discovered the Minuteman Library Network is no longer sending audiobooks between libraries. http://www.mln.lib.ma.us/catalog/av_requests.htm
They're swamped and underfunded. So, nothing but text.
For the last 7 years, I've thought it was not a good idea for me to own a car. Mostly, I kept it for occasional heavy shopping, inconvenient errands, and the lingering fear (based on growing up in the Detroit area) that car ownership is one of the factors defining a person's status as an independent responsible adult. My mother said, "It's really important for you to have a car, even if you don't drive it often. What if there's an emergency?" She said that as if there were emergency situations which would be improved by my driving through them. (I will point out that I live near Boston. Our worst-case scenario for severe weather is "Stay Put And Wait For It To Melt.")
Last night, I found one. I spent an appalling amount of time lost in Winchester, first looking for the library, then looking for the way out of Winchester in the dark. My hands hurt. My head hurts. But the Winchester library had The Yellow Admiral, The Hundred Days , AND Blue at the Mizzen. Notice the past tense there.
Yesterday, I discovered the Minuteman Library Network is no longer sending audiobooks between libraries. http://www.mln.lib.ma.us/catalog/av_requests.htm
They're swamped and underfunded. So, nothing but text.
For the last 7 years, I've thought it was not a good idea for me to own a car. Mostly, I kept it for occasional heavy shopping, inconvenient errands, and the lingering fear (based on growing up in the Detroit area) that car ownership is one of the factors defining a person's status as an independent responsible adult. My mother said, "It's really important for you to have a car, even if you don't drive it often. What if there's an emergency?" She said that as if there were emergency situations which would be improved by my driving through them. (I will point out that I live near Boston. Our worst-case scenario for severe weather is "Stay Put And Wait For It To Melt.")
Last night, I found one. I spent an appalling amount of time lost in Winchester, first looking for the library, then looking for the way out of Winchester in the dark. My hands hurt. My head hurts. But the Winchester library had The Yellow Admiral, The Hundred Days , AND Blue at the Mizzen. Notice the past tense there.
