Wallowing in books...

[fajrdrako]

What a lovely morning! maaseru and I went to the book sale held by the Friends of the National Library at St. Laurent shopping centre this morning. It was wonderful; one of the best such book sales I've ever seen. Most books were $1 or $2 each; some were more. My pièce de résistance was 412: a wonderful book I am still excited about, Vézelay: The Great Romanesque Church by Veronique Rouchon Mouilleron. Gorgeous. There's detail and description of every carving, with elucidation of their meanings. Brilliant visual detail of 12th century clothing and artifacts - we even see the belt loops in a miller's kilt.

The other books I got were:

• Winnie Ille Pu by A.A.Milne (Winnie the Pooh in Latin. I have it in hardcover, but it's easier to carry around in paperback.)


• Crackdown by Val McDermid


• Poisoned Cherries by Quintin Jardine


• The Owls of Gloucester by Edward Marston


• The Distant Echo by Val McDermid


• Where Evil Sleeps by Valerie Wilson Wesley


• Hello Bunny Alice by Laura Wilson


• Ladies' Man by John Ramster


• Death's Own Door by Andrew Taylor

You might guess from these, quite rightly, that I've been in the mood to read mysteries lately.

• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. I've read this one twice, but I didn't own a copy. Now I do. Too bad they didn't have A Thread of Grace.


• The Lover's Tongue: A Merry Romp Through the Language of Love and Sex by Mark Morton


• The Age of Chivalry by the National Geographic Society (pretty, pretty picures)


• Illuminated Manuscripts: Medieval Hunting Scenes - "the Hunting Book" by Gaston Phoebus by Gabriel Bise (more pretty, pretty pictures)

Now... to get ready for Beulah's 75th birthday party.

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I've no idea how the money towards libraries is funded here. I should probably look it up. I always thought the Library Board determined how much went to each branch, and had a certain autonomy in the matter. Mind you, I don't know now how far the jurisdiction of the Ottawa Public Library extends.

So in your area, what constitutes a 'community'? Are you talking about branch libraries or library systems, or is it a different concept altogether? I noticed people on the LMB list talking about county libraries - is that the kind of thing you mean?

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

There's all kinds. In my area, mostly library by city, meaning a city builds a library and the residents of that city (or township, or town) pay towards it. Then that library can contract with other local libraries and that makes up a system, so residents paying towards their library may then use other libraries. You usually get specific privileges at the library you pay towards, i.e. using certain databases or placing holds or interloan.

We also are on a system for interloan in the state.

Whether or not you can (or will) contract with said systems is often up to the board. But most local libraries are on some kind of system.

There are county libraries too. My county library is a law library w/ a special collection that covers mostly the history of the county. You would be hard pressed to find a bestseller there. It's next door to the county courts.

Then there are state libraries, funded mostly by state, and then there are district libraries (which work nearly independently from their city).

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It sounds as if - the rule is, there is no rule! Libraries can exist for any number of purposes with all sorts of types of funding.

Which I suppose is more or less true here, though I really haven't looked closely at the way the OPL is set up, and I should. I bet there's information on their web pages, which I look at daily - but not for that kind of information, it's to look for books and (often) renew the ones I have already.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

True, but the funding is extremely important down to the detail, as we have found through our court case.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I bet!