I love the Minuteman Library Network.

[randomness]

Robert Kaplan wrote some time ago--possibly in Balkan Ghosts--that he no longer carries guidebooks around. Instead, he photocopies the relevant pages from books and carries those. It's a good idea; they're lighter, cheaper, and disposable.

Combine this idea with a local library system that kicks serious ass and you have a real winning combination. The library network around here rocks. There are some rich towns around here, and many of them are full of well-travelled people who ask their well-funded libraries to stock all the most recent editions of travel guides to obscure destinations. They're a whole lot stronger in travel guides than the entire Connecticut public library network.

I also find it useful to browse and photocopy because it helps me focus on where I want to go and what it is I want to see when I get there. Someday, perhaps, I'll just scan them, but the last time I tried this--a couple of years ago?--scanning was slow and the OCR technology left much to be desired.

Comments

[noire.livejournal.com]

Oooooh yeah! The local library system is AWESOME. I've gotten books on interlibrary loan that were nearly a hundred years out of print and that the BPL would barely let me look at. But Minuteman System? Three days later I had them out for a month!

My father funded that system...

[ddreslough.livejournal.com]

...with all the fines for my sibs and my overdue books! ;)
The Wellesley Public Library should have a dang wing named after my dad.

But, he also would call those same reference librarians every day all day with bizarre questions, until they cried. :)