Our library has a great new service.

[bif]

A librarian recommends books service. There's a brief survey to define what your tastes in books are, then the librarian sends you s list of five books you may like. After reading them you email back how you liked them, and she recommends more books. And they started curbside pickup a month or so ago. God I sure miss browsing the shelves. But this certainly helps!

[Sherman A1]

1. Our libraries are treasures

They do so very much good. Locally here in St. Louis County the library has helped to provide summer lunches for kids in need, after school meals (when school is in session), feed diapers to folks that need help, a great author/speaker series (which is now done virtually), 10 monthly free online movies through Kanopy, lots of online databases and so much more. They have shifted back to curb service as we are seeing a spike in the virus, but they continue to soldier on through it all.

They are just great.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Nice! I like the city of STLMO libraries too, they've been always a resource for me. Unfortunately

I haven't gone in a while, been too busy but it is supremely satisfying to me that St. Louis City has such a treasure (especially the downtown main branch of the library).

[AmyStrange]

2. Have you tried it yet?

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I also love browsing the library book shelves.

I go to the bookstores now, but they won't let me borrow the damn things and want me to pay first, damn fascist!

Ha, just kidding.
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[bif]

5. Out of the five books she recommended...

I checked out "Best Boy" by Eli Gottlieb and "The Library Book" by Susan Orlean.

One of my favorite things to do is go to the fiction section and start checking out books from A to Z. It usually takes me almost a year to do it. When I'm done, I start over because of all the new books. Been doing that since I was a teen. I read the blurb on the dust jacket and if it sounds interesting, I check it out. Usually 5 books at a time. I give each book 50 pages before I either give up, or soldier on!

[AmyStrange]

6. I used to do the same thing, except...

-

I started from the first book by author A in mystery fiction (this was so long ago, I can't remember who it was. I think it was A. A. Fair---pseudonym for Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason) and took each book home in order.

I got through two book shelves before reaching one that was so badly written... I couldn't get through it.

Now, I do what you do, but haven't done it in a while.

I've run across some really good books that I would never have read otherwise.

It's a good idea.
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[SheltieLover]

3. Sounds great!!!

I love libraries!

[murielm99]

7. Read-alikes!

We provided this service years ago. All kinds of patrons would come in and ask for books this way. They would say something like, "I have read all the books written by Nora Lofts. Do you have any other books by authors who write stories like hers?"

Then we would find those books.

We wrote a grant that listed read-alikes with some other librarians. We kept them in a loose leaf binder. These days, they would be in a computer.

When my brother worked for a music service, he used that idea and found listen-likes.

[pansypoo53219]

8. when i was playing sheepshead(german card game) on yahoo. i would just explore.

found a good nonfiction book. encyclopedia of american scandal. biographies for photos for my pastels. why i started w/ clint eastwood(spaghetti westerns) + julie christie. did more CD exploring + VCR tapes. had enough books at home.