It has been years since I’ve been inside a library, aside from the Marriott Library on campus. Many people still regularly utilize the features available at libraries. I have a buddy who checks out CDs from the Public Library and another who just checked out the Criterion Godzilla collection. But do many people actually get books from libraries anymore?

Digital Library

To be fair, I have a very skewed data set. Most of my friends are either massive book collectors or want a book I either have already or have been meaning to get. I eventually find it for cheap online or at a used bookstore and let them borrow it. I have in the not-so-distant past used the library for books though! Over COVID, I got really into reading and started going through my dad’s massive collection of books. However, there were so many I desperately wanted to read that he didn’t have. He gave me the great idea to rent eBooks on my Kindle Fire HD which I started doing religiously. Every two to three weeks I would finish whatever I had checked out and hurriedly consult my to-be-read list, find the next available book and immediately check it out and start reading it. I did this for a few months, until I eventually got too busy with school but it allowed me to read some of my favorite books including “The Terror“, which is a book that I think about rereading once a month. Yet, I just don’t have the time right now. Another cool thing with eBooks, specifically with the Kindle, is there are a bunch of classics available for either dirt cheap or free on the Amazon bookstore. I read “The Invisible Man“, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and thought about starting  “The Phantom of the Opera” but unfortunately didn’t have time.

SLC Libraries

Returning attention to libraries, if I wasn’t so focused on owning the media that I consume regardless if it is a movie, book or album I would utilize libraries much more than I do now. Nonetheless, there are many other uses for libraries! The Marriott Library on campus hosts book sales a few times a year, where you can discover some good finds! The Marriott Library also has a pretty cool board game collection, and it has VR headsets and computers that students can use for gaming. The public library downtown has some neat cafes inside and is a great place to go if you need something very specific, or need to talk to someone knowledgeable on a certain topic.

Resources

There are so many libraries across the city, from multiple branches of the SLC Public Library to other county libraries to the Marriott Library at the heart of campus. More students should visit the libraries and use the amenities they have so they get used at the very least. The learning and growing opportunities of going to the library are endless.

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@EthanBlume07