Public Libraries and Such

I visited the Eudora Welty Library on State St. for the first time in 8 years after having moved away and then returning. I anticipated being welcomed back with open arms as a patron thirsting for the written word, eager to keep the dying public library system afloat, ready and willing to add my voice to the meagre few who still love the "stacks" for something other than a place to make-out. Instead I found myself victim to bureaucracy.

Did I need help? (Yes ma'am. I would like to get a library card please). Had I ever had a Hinds County Public Library Card? (Yes...). Did I have my card with me? (No...). Did I realize that it is a $2.00 fee to replace a lost public library card? (No....but, you see, I moved away and am only just returning to the area after several years). Unless you have your library card, you cannot check out books. (Even with my driver's license?) No. I don't make the rules, Miss. It's a $2.00 fee to replace a lost public library card, and you cannot check books out without a Hinds County Library card in your possession. (Well, I don't have any money with me...do you mean that I have to leave and come back?) It's a $2.00 fee to replace a lost public library card.

I get the point.

Moving out of town does not constitute as not having a Hinds County Public Library card. It constitutes as having lost your Hinds County Public Library card.

So, I withdrew my $20.00 from the bank ATM down the street in order to pay the $2.00 fee -- the thought of the gas money wasted niggling at me all the while -- only to find that my conscience was smiting me because I had argued with the librarian. As if to add insult to injury, I had to humble myself to leave the library, first of all, and then to apologize for leaving with a bad attitude.

And who says that sanctification can't occur at the circulation desk of a public library? If anything, that's where it ought to begin. With the everyday people and the everyday bothers of everyday life. Surely it ought to begin with the lady behind the desk at the Eudora Welty Public Library who may or may not know the Lord, but who the Holy Spirit used to convict me of pride.

By the way, I checked out Agatha Christie's "They Came to Baghdad," Dorothy Sayers' "Murder Must Advertise," Arthur Ransome's "Secret Water," and P.D. James' "Creatures of Men." "Creatures of Men" is the only one I do not recommend.