Musing Mondays and Library Loot

Musing Mondays is hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page. This week's MM topic is about using the library:

How often do you visit the library? Do you have a scheduled library day/time, or do you go whenever? Do you go alone, or take people with you?

It's interesting that this should come up today. Over the weekend, I actually checked out library books for the first time in ages. In recent years, I've spent time in our local public library looking things up, and I've attended their book sales, and popped in to get flu shots in their annual clinics. But for quite a while now, I haven't bothered to take out any books – I've just fallen into the habit of buying most of the books I read.

However, this year I've got myself involved in a number of reading challenges that will mean reading books I don't own and don't particularly want to buy. So I'm becoming a library patron again (literally – I signed up as a "Friend of the Library" and handed in my contribution this weekend, too). And although it was a brief visit (M and I were on our way to the supermarket for the weekly stock up – and we wouldn't want to cut that thrill short, now would we?), it was fun. And it made me remember how much I like hanging out at the library and browsing the new books.

This time, I came away with only two books – A.S. Byatt's Angels and Insects and the new biography of Katherine Swynford by Alison Weir (Mistress of the Monarchy). The Byatt book is one I'm reading for several different challenges this year, and I've been interested in taking a look at the Swynford bio because she's supposed to be an ancestress of mine.

In the past, I generally went to the library by myself and I suppose that's probably the most practical strategy. I tend to spend a lot more time browsing than most people are ready to endure. When I go with other people, I usually try to stay more focused, and look for specific titles or info. But that's just not as much fun as random roaming, is it?

So I'm expecting to be more of a regular at the library this year. I may not be going there every week, of course. And I plan to keep my current selections for their full allotted time – they're due March 14th, and that just happens to be the date of the library's next big book sale!

This is my first time participating in Library Loot, co-hosted by Eva (A Striped Armchair) and Alessandra (Out of the Blue) – a weekly meme that "encourages bloggers to share the books they've checked out from the library." If you'd like to take part, please visit one of their blogs and leave a comment.