How I became the library's biggest fan

"Having fun isn't hard when you have a library card"

(sorry, I just had to)

I'd never really been a big fan of libraries, and I don't really know why. Growing up in Poland, Ohio,  we had one of the most beautiful libraries I had ever been to (look it up and you'll understand) but after we moved, I completely changed my ideas about borrowed books. My mother blames the Poland library for setting an impossible standard for any library I would ever visit in the future. But truth be told, I became a book snob. I'm not proud of it. If I was going to read a book, I wanted to own it. Since I'm a big believer in re-reading books, this always made sense to me. I also had a misconstructed idea of used books- they seemed icky and old and I couldn't be bothered with them. Basically, younger me was dumb. Really dumb.

Last week, one of my professors and I had a discussion about the public library here where I go to school. She was telling me how she goes every two weeks and checks out twenty books- something that sounded super appealing to me. She also told me that they have a program where, since I attend the university but am from out of state, I can use my student ID to sign up for a library card. So what did I do? Well, this past weekend I booked (pun intended) it to the library to get me a library card! 

My professor was right! I could use my ID to get a card and check out up to sixty books. Sixty books! Woah! Basically, once I was all signed up and ready to browse, I went a big crazy. I grabbed as many books as my small arms could carry... until I found the bags and began to stuff those. Our library has a great selection, especially of YA books. And they have pretty new titles. I'm literally kicking myself for not going in sooner, especially since it's my last semester of senior year. Imagine all the books I could have been reading! 

Library books are the best! They're free, and if you really like the book, you can always go buy it. If you don't finish all your books, all you have to do is go back and re-check them out. It's a great system and I'm so upset that it took me this long to figure it out. But, you can definitely bet that I'll be a lifelong fan of public libraries!

Here are the books I got:

-Anastasia Forever- by Joy Preble

-Shroud of Sorrow- by Tommy Donbavand

-Blood Promise- by Richelle Mead

-This Is What Happy Looks Like- by Jennifer E. Smith

-Cinder- by Marissa Meyer

-Anna and the French Kiss- by Stephanie Perkins

-The Diviners- by Libba Bray

-The Scorpio Races- by Maggie Stiefvater

-The Selection- by Kiera Cass

So go sign up for a library card if you don't have one. I'm pretty sure most university towns will let you sign up with a student ID so make sure to do that. Also, if you already have a library card, take full advantage of it. Make it your best friend. And then enjoy all the books you get to read!

Next week, I'll be reading and reviewing Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (synopsis from Good Reads):

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever

-Annie