Sounds like a sports event, right? I hoped to suggest a more stupendous thrill ride than National Library Week.
On the other hand, what’s more electrifying than self-discovery and hundreds of products for pennies per day? Libraries collect and arrange thousands of resources for your convenience. As handy as it is to find them all in one spot, learning that some of the niftiest ones (think databases and downloadable content) can be accessed from home is pretty amazing.
As for the self-discovery component, the library figures into the “Experience Economy” that you’ve heard so much about.
Sunday night’s after-dinner conversation illustrates that trend. One friend divulged that for years he’s maintained a three-tag list: what he’d like to be, what he hopes to do, and what he aspires to have. Here’s what has occurred over time: his options for “being” have clarified themselves; the list of “want to haves” has diminished (since he’s gotten along fine without them so far!). However, the catalog of “want to do” is steadily increasing.
In the Experience Economy, creating memories, discovering the means to transform yourself, or merely sensing that your needs truly matter to the employee who assists you are basic expectations. You can find impressive price breaks for restaurants, theme parks, concerts, travel, and classes, but the library still offers the best deal around. A co-worker recently divided 365 into the $25 nonresident fee charged to folks who live outside the city. The daily cost of utiilizing thousands of print and online resources: less than 7 cents per day.
To celebrate NLW, you could catch a Youtube video, print inspiring Crayola projects for the young ones, or enter a Twaiku (Twitter haiku) contest. Better yet, visit the library–in person or online–for some cheap thrills.
