Libraries and Sewing

Do you use your public library? It's not a loaded question, I promise. I'm studying to be a librarian, and I'm really curious about what gets people into their public libraries. If you use yours, what do you use it for? If you don't, why not?

I go to my public library about 5 - 6 times a week. I'm not kidding, I really do. I volunteer there on Thursdays, I go to the library book sale on Saturdays, and on the days in between...well, if my partner and I are looking for a movie for date night, we go there. If we just need a place to walk around after a slightly-too-large dinner, we go to the library. Any time I'm interested in a new project or technique or book, I get it from the library. Granted, I'm a little extreme. Obviously, I would live in the library if I could, and that's a large part of why I'm getting a masters' degree in LIS (Library and Information Science).

The small portion of my book collection that sits directly behind my desk. School books and sewing books. :)

But over the last 6 years or so, I've discovered just how much the library has to offer. Did you know you can borrow board games from some libraries (maybe yours)? What about art? Did you know your library probably has story time for your kids, book clubs for you, and workshops (even personal lessons) for people who want to learn more about computer programs or research databases?

Did you know your library has sewing books?

That's a close-up of the photo above. Five of those books are actually library books. This isn't my whole personal collection of sewing books, but if it was, it would only have four more books in it, and it would just equal the number of sewing/style books I currently have checked out from the library. That's right. I can literally count the number of sewing books I own on one hand. (Fit for Real People, The Vogue Sewing Book, The Burdastyle Sewing Handbook, Fabrics by Ann Ladbury, and The Colette Sewing Handbook). But the number of sewing books/magazine subscriptions I have access to?

THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVEN!!! Granted, that number probably includes a small number of fiction books whose main character sew, but it also excludes all the books about style, fashion drawing, etc. What's awesome about this collection is that it includes books in the Urbana Free Library and the Douglass Branch, so even if the library down the street doesn't have the book I want, I can still get it if one of the other two libraries has it.

I just reserved a bunch of books about fabric dyeing, since I can't seem to find a nice light turquoise wool coating and I don't want to spend $$$$ a yard and screw it up with a poor dye job. Whenever I'm curious about a book but I'm not sure I want to invest in it yet, I check it out from the library first. If it's a new technique (like fabric dying or embroidery), I check out library books on it to supplement the vast amounts of information on the web.

Do you use your library's sewing books?

By the way, if you haven't looked through The Party Dress Book  by Mary Adams, you really should. It's just one of the most beautiful, inspiring books I've seen, and the most amazing, stunning, gorgeous dress I've ever seen in my life is on pages 58 and 66.