January 19, 2012

Pima County Public Library

I grew up going to the library a lot, but got out of the habit during the years I worked at Bookmans. Recently Eleanor and I have been rediscovering the joy of going to the library.

The location we go to most commonly is the Miller-Golf Links branch of the Pima County Public Library since it's just a little more than 5 miles from us. Ahead of time I go online to the library catalog and reserve the books, movies, and audiobooks that I want, since I usually get to browse for about 43 seconds before Eleanor starts running away from me. After I grab my stuff off the reserve shelf and put it in my bag we go over to the kids' area and pick out board books to read at the table.


We've tried family and toddler story times, but she's still pretty uninterested in sitting still for more than 1-2 minutes.

Occasionally if I'm behind on reading books for review I'll drop Eleanor off at Grandma's house and head to the library to read or write reviews. (It's amazing how much more focused I am when I'm away from home!) I like going to the Kirk-Bear Canyon branch to read or use the computers in the lab there.



I really appreciate how easy it is to use the library's website. It's so great to be able to search the catalog from home and put in reserves for the items I want. They also have downloadable e-books, audio books, and music, so I can get new items without even leaving the house.


But we went to Flagstaff last month, and took Eleanor to the library there. They have a wonderful play area -- with a toy kitchen, blocks, crayons and paper, puppets, and stuffed animals. Eleanor had a blast! I would've said that the Tucson library system was pretty perfect till I saw the Flagstaff library, but now I wish ours had a better play area!

How are the libraries where you live? 
If you live in Tucson, which branch of the library do you go to?