I took a trip to the public library in my Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood this week.
My neighborhood branch of the Onondaga County Public Library system.
The rustic fall feel of the Payne Branch makes me feel so much at home. It’s not too big and certainly not slick. It looks and feels well-lived-in.
Inside, I know where I’ll find the new stuff, and every letter in the alphabet in the fiction racks. There’s a rack set off for the newest arrival. They call these the Rapid Reads. For these, you’re give one week at check-out instead of the usual three. No extensions are allowed because these are the books in heaviest demand.
Unfortunately, my mission this day was to bring back my overdue copy of the latest Philadelphia cop caper from W.E.B. Griffin. I fished into my pocket and handed over a buck as a penalty for my sin. The polite clerk handed me back a quarter, with no look of judgment.
Despite my best intentions and stretching out my borrowing period, no, I did not finish the novel. True confession: I was so busy in the 11 days I had it, I didn’t even start it. If the clerk knew that, I may have received a different glance.
Downtown, some 3 1/2 miles west, was my next destination.
That’s the library across the court.
Checking online, I discovered I had to visit the Onondaga County Library branch in The Galleries of Syracuse to obtain the DVD of The Hundred Foot Journey. That’s the feature movie up for viewing in the rotation for the Food-And-Film book I’m working on with fellow blogger Liz Gunderson. Payne’s copies were gone. The library gives you a week on DVD rentals, but I have to look carefully to find which branch has what.
Read it and weep.
Inside, I took a glance at their fiction shelf and noticed one I hadn’t seen by Stephen King. I’ve got three weeks, and two renewals, too. Yahoo.
What author have you been reading lately, and why? Who’s your favorite novelist, and why? Does your library check out DVDs, and if so, for how long?
Mark Bialczak 
Pretty sure I love to read way more than I enjoy writing!! Loved this post, Mark! It’s been way too long since I’ve been to the library . . . used to be one of my fav places!!
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Reacquaint yourself to your local branch, Sadie. I bet you’ll be happier for it. ❤
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I know, I need to!!
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Hi, Mark! Nice libraries you have there. We have one main one, and several branches, but they are all pretty far from us. I’ve had 2 books I keep re-checking over & over because I can never make it back to turn them in! I used to go all the time, but mostly get books from special used book sales. So many on my TBR shelves!
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Hi, ghotmmnc! It’s not great to have the libraries too far for frequent visits. The brick library pictured, I can walk to from the Little Bitty in 10 minutes, tops. That’s a perk of city neighborhood living. 🙂 I have a too-big TBR list as well, my friend.
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I’m reading you today, Mark, and I’m very happy about that. My favorite authors include Jane Austen, Anne Tyler, Charles Dickens, and Joseph Heller.
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You are well-read, Ann Koplow. You are on my favorite-read list, too, don’t forget.
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Very cool, Mark! The last time I was in my library was the LAST time I was in my library. Why? Because it looked more like a Blockbusters sub-station than a home for books.
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Uh-oh. Too many viewers, not enough readers. Here, the book shelves are 50 times the DVD shelves, Rachel.
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You may, or may not, get a kick out of this MBM. But I just bought some Laura Ingalls Wilder books for a couple of little ones in my life. And I thought I would reread them before I gave them to them. I’m glad I am. Makes me very nostalgic.
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I do get a kick out of that, MBC. A trip back for you, plus, you are ready to discuss them with the little ones. 🙂
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I’m hoping they love them. I love connections through words. 🙂
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I don’t have a favorite author. I love to go to the library and just browse. I just finished “Reunion of Ghosts” by Judith Claire Mitchell–just discovered it in the new books. I also read Jane Smiley’s “Early Warning,” the second book in a trilogy. I’m glad we can renew online. 😉
We saw The Hundred Foot Journey” in the theater, and then went out for Indian food. It’s a fun movie.
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I really enjoy Jane Smiley’s work, Merril. ‘Moo’ is my favorite. I have not plugged into her trilogy as of yet. I have an inkling off the top of my head that it is her early historical fiction work that I’ve left on the shelf. I’ll look again!
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This is a new series, and only the first two books are out. I really liked them.
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Great news, Merril!
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Having worked in libraries most of my adult life I love to see what out of town libraries look like. When my kid were younger and we would go out of town they would always tease me by saying ” Mom if you’re good, dad might drive by the library”.
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So what do you think of these two contrasting branches in Syracuse, Dora? What was the branch that you worked in like, my friend?
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Basically we did the same for new books and our DVDs went out for a week.
Fresno County has quite a few libraries in the system, so being consistent with policies was a challenge, because some wanted to use their own rules. If patrons were not abusing the system, we did go out of our way to make exceptions on a few things. But I loved it!
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I’m glad you had a great place like that to work, Dora. You got to help people enrich their lives. That’s the best!
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My library also has of different deadlines, depending how in demand stuff is. I love checking stuff out though, i’m a big library believer.
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LIbraries have changed with the times, because they’ve had to, Jay. I’m glad they’ve stuck around for us.
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I like Janet Evanovich for a fun series about Stephanie Plum. The first was made into a movie called “One for the Money.” It was a fun movie with Debbie Reynolds as her mother. I like James Patterson and Iris Johansen. I read murder mysteries but joined a farm book club and recommend, “Flight Behavior” with Barbara Kingsolver as the author. It is fictional but monarch migration and two families touched by the butterflies migration to Tennessee. Discussion about how global warming and logging in Mexico has creates a major decrease in butterflies. I am getting ready to read “The Persian Pickle Society.” Had to put a search for copy out in other libraries. I still want to see the 1000 steps movie. It was really well r3ceived. I liked “Wild” and “Still Alice, ” Mark. I have to write a review on the Martian soon. Dad (Felicia, boyfriend and I) would have loved it! 🙂
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Oops, Mark. The book is called the Persian Pickle Club. The name eluded me. 🙂
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I will look for it, Robin, when I can. Thank you! 🙂
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Get the library to reserve you ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey,’ if you can, Robin. I really think you’ll like it. I did watch ‘Wild’ on HBO while I had it on the free months on DirecTV. I thought you were really right on Reese Witherspoon’s great performance on that one. I liked ‘The Martian.’ I look forward to (eventually) seeing what you think of it.
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My favorite novelist used to be Maeve Binchy. Unfortunately I’ve been reading her novel Heart and Soul on and off since I received it Christmas 2008. And yes, it is still next to my bed waiting expectantly for me to pick it up and finish it. My favorite book of all time would have to be Stephen king’s IT, but I’m not brave enough to venture into Stephen King territory anymore. Patricia Cornwall is more my style. Nowadays I just read blogs.
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Blogs can be IT, that’s for sure, Vonita. 😉
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we can renew books on line or by automated message (maybe not the right phrase) so if I feel really bad about having a book too long at least no librarian is able to make me feel guilty.
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I can renew regular lends online Rachel, and too often, do! But the Rapid Reads and DVDs have a no renew policy. They know that people would hog them otherwise. 😦
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Right now I’m actually reading Steven Adler’s (Guns N Roses drummer) autobiography. Some juicy stuff although I really don’t think it will end up with the great literary tomes. There are so many authors I love, it’s too hard to name them all and I like to skip around so I don’t read the same one over and over. My library does rent DVDs. I used to get them for my kids when they were younger but they were almost always in terrible condition, barely watchable.
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Adler’s bio much be pretty juicy, I’d imagine, Marissa, if he’s truthful about the main dudes. 😮 Too bad the DVDs are beat up as much as the main dudes.
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Yes, an unfortunate analogy indeed!
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I participate in a number of sites that do paid surveys – I get points for each survey I completed, and then I turn those points into Amazon gift certificates. That’s how I keep myself in paperback novels. I tend to like murder mysteries, suspense and horror (ala Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Bentley LIttle). Sometimes I branch out into drama or humorous fiction, and I’m not above reading one of those cheesy romantic novels if the story line looks interesting. (Of course, I skip over the “hot” parts – not).
The best part is I always get free shipping and the books come right to my door. When I’m done with them, I pass them on to my mother-in-law who then donates them to the library in her senior apartment complex.
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Good strategy, CM. Your household pass over the hot parts? I remember your post about your hubby’s frozen laptop …
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Knock on wood. Both computers seem to be OK at the moment, and the new portable hard drive is doing what it’s supposed to.
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Knock on wood, indeed, CM. Computer land is so tricky.
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I have been reading like crazy lately. In the past 2 1/2 weeks I have read 15 books. When I get in the reading mood I devour books. I get free books from Book Bub and EHabit Books.
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Smart way to go about it, Evelyn “PJ” Wood!
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Who is Evelyn Wood?
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She is the name behind a world-famous speed-reading course, PJ! Google it. 🙂
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Thanks Mark!
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I get my books and movies from the mobile library bro Mark. It comes every other Tuesday, and I can keep them for a month, with automatic recheck if I forget to take them down the next time they come. YAHOO, indeed.
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That’s a big Yahoo for convenience and coolness, sis Angie. We used to call it the Bookmobile when I was a kid. 🙂
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It was called that when I was a kid too bro Mark. Now they have updated the name so we don’t have to sound like kids again. They should know we are all in at least the second childhood, some of us in third or forth.
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Plus it kind of sounds like the Batmobile, and we all remember that as pretty nifty, too, sis Angie. Why not?
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Now I really feel ancient bro Mark. They didn’t have the Batmobile til my kids were young.
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Hi Mark. I haven’t been to the library lately, still have a stack of books I have started and not finished. I have about 3 books I am presently reading, most of them on are on Aboriginal culture. I did want to see “The Hundred Foot Journey”. Thanks for reminding me about it!!!!
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Don’t forget about this movie, SD. It blends cultures and generations quite stylishly.
And aboriginalal cultures are quite an interesting direcdtion for your reading. 🙂
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I will see if I can find that movie for tonights viewing.
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Our library system will bring the item to the branch of your choosing if you put a Hold on it. Of course that only works if you don’t need the item Today.
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Yes, I should plan ahead more efficiently, Scott. You said that very gently. 🙂
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Love libraries, as you know, Mark … (That Galleries shot sure looks familiar!). And the movie you selected is quite excellent!
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It is a good flick, Jim. Yes, that Galleries shot welcomes both of us, indeed, my friend.
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I’ve been reading myself lately, lol! Workin on that NaNo from last year.
I may not read much fiction at all in November, and I’m okay with that. I read at least 3 books a week the rest of the year.
We have borrowed DVD’s before, but not often. I wanna say it’s like a 3-day thing at our library.
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One week on a DVD is a luxury, my friend. You sure read a lot 11 months of the year. 🙂
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