Yesterday, I stopped by the Cedar Mill Library and picked up a Washington County Cooperative Library Services Card. The Multnomah County card that I got several years ago on-line was apparently not interchangeable in the county where I live, so now I have two! I had thought I might use the downtown Portland branch since it was only a block away from my office, but never actually went in. I did, however, utilize it for their extensive on-line database, searching for local business owner contacts to develop new advertisers for the radio station. It is a beautiful, old building and I probably should have gone inside to investigate while it was convenient, but I never found a reason to go through the doors. I actually ventured inside the nearby Cedar Mill branch because I wanted to check out a couple of Ken Burns documentaries that are not available On Demand. I’m now on a waiting list.

The only library services I’ve really ever used in the past were the microfilm machines in other cities. I always viewed them as time machines, as I rolled the film back and forth through the years. I used them primarily for business, looking through the newspaper archives for advertising leads. I found that looking at old newspaper ads allowed me to approach business owners in a knowledgeable manner and provide them with creative ideas for radio or television. Most advertisers tend to repeat what they did the year before, without putting much thought into changes, so I would try beat the newspaper reps to the punch and convince these advertisers to try something new and more effective. I would often present a “spec spot,” using their past newspaper copy to write and produce radio and T.V. commercials that brought the boring, one-dimensional black and white ad to life with a convincing voice, sound effects, and music. The microfilm department made me a lot of money selling advertising, and all I needed was a library card. In modern times however, you can get the same information from the websites of potential clients, so the Portland downtown library proved little use for me in the final years of my career.

I never spent much time in the library as a student. While other kids might go to the library to study, I was never that serious. I can remember times though when I checked-out books and magazines for school projects, and forgot to take them back, so I probably spent more time in the library paying fines. At Indiana University, I had a summer job in the library, where I spent the late night hours putting books back on the shelf. I also remember a bar in Ohio called The Library, so when kids told their parents they were going to the library, they didn’t have to lie. Despite all these library experiences, I always felt a bit uncomfortable in places like libraries, churches, golf courses, and hospitals where people talk in hushed voices. Shhhhh!

Many retirees spend a lot of time in the library. I could see that as I walked through the doors yesterday. It’s a quiet place away from home with free Wi-Fi, that probably brings back memories of going into the office. If nothing else, it’s someplace free to go! You can get passes to area cultural attractions for free – much better than a Senior Citizen discount. Also, libraries did not rent free movies, video games, board games, audio books, or current best sellers when I was a kid, so these are modern day, money-saving reasons to have a library card. After not being in a library in many years, I quietly tip-toed in, and was surprised to see it as a busy place. With the rise of the internet, I once thought that libraries would be a thing of the past, but they have nicely adapted to offer many useful services to people of all ages. I’m now excited to have a library card, but unfortunately they didn’t have in stock what I wanted this time, so I’ll have to go back when they notify me. I wonder if that will be by e-mail, or through a whispered voice on the phone? What?