Thursday, January 31, 2008

Preparing For A Busy Weekend

I was up for barely an hour before I received my first call of the day. It was my sister Rose, who apparently had the morning off and wanted to know how things were going with me. Thankfully, she didn't sound angry at all when I told her I was nervous about applying to college. Maybe a little annoyed, but she's always been faster on the draw than me about most things. This is really scary for me. My nerves have not been helped by several adults I know pointing out how outdated the library profession is in the Internet-addicted 21st Century. Who needs heavy books when you can read them online? Why read a newspaper when you can get everything you need in a flash on a computer?

Frankly, this is a fallacy, as far as I can tell. First of all, items do not categorize themselves. Second, not everyone wants to sit in front of a computer and read. Third, libraries also carry other media (CDs, DVDs, records, magazines). Fourth, there's something that's just satisfying about holding a book in your hand. Computer text does not have that good, solid weight to it. Fifth, libraries still have a lot of book-related programs, especially for children and reading fans. Sixth, computers aren't as quick as many people like to believe. They do have to be turned on, and then the Internet has to be turned on if you don't have high-speed access, and you have to print pages and pages of paper if you want to read your story when the computer's turned off or on stand-by. Not to mention you don't need electricity to enjoy a book. Computers are worthless without electricity.

Anyway, Rose wanted to know if I was up for a shopping expedition on Saturday, since she had to go to Target and a few other places. Perfect! Saturday is my only day off this week. (And since it is my only day off this week, the Acme legally can't call me in. I've been called into work on the last two out of three Saturdays I was supposed to have off.) I'll get together with Rose in the afternoon, then go out with Erica to the movies in the evening.

Once again, I spent my morning online, doing college research. I'll take a look at the Financial Aid application tomorrow and find out where the tests to get into graduate school are being held around here. I also did my pilates. (I try to do pilates and yoga four times a week.)

Work was steady-to-dead, annoying only because it's the beginning of the month and we're getting all the usual obnoxious beginning-of-the-month people spending the money they don't have any other time.

1 comment:

Tina said...

Don't listen to the Library Science naysayers. I've built a career using my FRENCH degree (mostly) in DENVER. You can do anything if you work hard enough at it. Really.