While on my break from school I heard some disappointing news. I recommended a book to my grandmother; she asked me if she could just buy it at Barnes & Noble. I said of course she could, but I also told her that she could look for it at her library. She frowned at me and said she does not use her library. When she makes that face, I know not to ask anymore about it, though I was itching to know why she wouldn't use her library. I understand why she would refuse to try out a Nook (which she most crankily did) because of the challenging technology (my grandparents' house doesn't have wifi). However, I couldn't understand why she refused to use the library. As a senior citizen, and living in this troubling economy, I know money is tight, and yet she would keep on buying books at B&N (which aren't cheap like a second-hand store). Luckily, she has no problem with passing on books to friends and relatives when she's done with them. The last unsettling moment was when my grandmother told me that she picked up a book (not knowing what it was about) and realized that the romance novel was about a gay couple. Well then she proceeded to throw it in the trash with disgust. If she had borrowed the book from the library, she could have returned it and saved the new book from meeting its early end.
Also, my family's pursuit of the traditional Black Sunday shopping made me miss the opportunity to visit the Corning Glass Museum Research Library. One day I will go back to visit the library instead of shopping around for pricey glass.
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