Yesterday I joined up to our local library. It's been years since I've belonged to a library. Probably the last one was the university library just after high school. I'd forgotten what glorious places they are and how much time I'd spent in my school years inside the things.
Libraries have come a long way since my last visit. I guess they've had to compete with the Internet for their core research usages, no longer being the only place to easily find authoritative information. In fact, most libraries can probably only give a certain type of source: authoritative, well-researched and biased in a specific, officialish, way. The Internet, on the other hand, gives a broad range of views, from the lunatic fringe to the conservative and sober.
But this library has got with the times. it's open seven days a week, has Internet access, DVD and CD hire and a comfortable atmosphere. I'm impressed!
Most importantly, this will save me a fortune in books. I've been exclusively buying books for the last decade or so, so this should make things a bit cheaper. Course I'll still end up buying the latest cyberpunk sci-fi novels, but for more run-of-the-mill stuff, it should be good.
Right now, I'm reading about the Spanish Civil War.