nobody cares if you just want to read Twitter with the free wifi. in fact we’re ecstatic you’re there.
don’t be afraid to touch the books. hell, taking them off the shelf and leaving them on shelving carts is one of the main ways the library counts usage and foot traffic, so don’t reshelve them yourself and don’t be afraid of looking at them!
most libraries now allow covered drinks, and many have special areas where you’re allowed to bring something to eat. have your lunch there, it’s quiet!
lovely large tables for crafts or art? they have you covered!
magazines and periodicals so you can read the newest events or pick up a new recipe? check!
you can even just watch a DVD if you have the appropriate portable screen and courtesy headphones.
GO to the library. LOVE the library. USE the library. you already paid for it!!
I’ve *literally* been writing most of Family Lore and working on art comissions at the local library.
Things Libraries have that are awesome if you’re a creator:
Wi-Fi. Really, really good Wi-Fi
Mine doesn’t just allow covered drinks- it’s got a whole-ass coffee bar.
“study rooms” you can camp in for free (but you have to move if someone books them) OR that you can book for a couple hours on certain days FOR REALLY CHEAP
like literally i pay $15 for 3 8-hour days a week and i get my own room, a bigass table, great light, the free wifi, AND I CAN RENT ANY REFERENCE MATERIAL OR ART SUPPLIES I NEED
OH
YOU DIDN’T KNOW?
YOU CAN RENT ALL KINDS OF SHIT FROM YOUR LIBRARY
FOR FREE
I RENTED A MANGIFIER, DRATING TOOLS AND A BUNCH OF ORCHID BOOKS FOR A PROJECT
I RENTED A GODDAMN SEWING MACHINE ONCE
F O R F R E E
it’s like all the benefits of renting an office space but for SO MUCH CHEAPER also you CAN GET ALL KINDS OF SUPPLIES
THEY HAVE A 3-D PRINTER
Things Libraries DON’T have that are ALSO AWESOME if you’re a creator:
I 100% understand the appeal of woking in coffehouses- they’re spaces that are designed to be comfortable and if you have ADHD like me the background chatter is actually a good stim but there’s also frequently THAT GUY.
You know, the guy who sees you working and waves at you until you take your headphones off then he wants to tell you all about how He’s A Writer ™ or a Cinematographer ™ working on a novel or whatever and he just sucks up your time talking about himself and then he wants your contact information because he thinks that because you haven’t actually thrown the overpriced coffe in his face he’s sucessfully seduced you?
That Guy?
Is NEVER at the Library.
Because it’s a quiet space so he can’t talk about himself becuase the hyperstressed college students will literally axe-murder him
Also I forgot in the earlier section but sometimes The Society For Creative Anachronism does events there and there are actual axe-weilding valkyrie women present.
that’s very distracting
but in a good way.
Your local library ALSO does not have that a rented office space, coffeehouse, or your kitchen table does: missionaries, telemarketers, the couple having a loud and messy breakup at the next table, the nagging sensation that you should be doing housework instead, that one jackass that thought the polar vortex was an ideal temperature and adjusts the thermostat accordingly, your cat jumping on table and spilling stuff on your work, crap wifi, Mandatory overpriced coffee, Office Dress Codes, Or a building manager that “forgets” to pay the utilities becuase they’ve been embezzling everyone’s rent to support thier cabbage patch kids addiction.
if you don’t know the difference between a hare and a rabbit you’ve never gazed into the cold wild eyes of a hare and known that if it could speak it would speak backwards
Jack Rabbits are North American Hares and they’re the WORST to encounter at night becuase:
You all know how big a rabbit is. Jack Rabbits and hares are much bigger. they’re the size of large cats or small dogs or just-walking-age children.
They also like to hang out in gangs of a hlf dozen to over 30.
and in the middle of backcountry dirt roads.
perhaps they’re dustbathing
or blood sacrifce
I don’t know because when you come up the road at night because your dog has a tiny bladder and needs to go out at midnight and you have no yard so you’re walking him on the dirt road around your neighborhod because you might aw well get some stargazing in, and you come just over the ridge to see a coven of twenty jackrabbits in the middle of the road
and
they
all
stand
up
not just onto all fours like a proper prey animal
No they get up on thier hind legs and don’t just sit but STAND like tiny rabbit-skinned toddlers, wobbing slightly as they stare directly at you eyes shining in your flashlight’s glow
…Blood Red.
And a chill goes through you on that warm july night because while they’re a puntable size and allegedly herbivores they’re standing and watching you just like people and you are vastly outnumbered.
everyone freezes
you’re considering your odds aganst roughly 200lbs of Suspiciously Humanoid Hare
and they’re considering their odds against you
the only sound in the never-ending high desert wind
somewhere in your peripheral vision you can see the streetlights but they seem awfully far away
The nearest Jack Rabbit
Blinks
and takes a single shuffling step
forward
You area an overdevloped monkey and your prefrontal cortex is capable of some amazing feats but it runs very slowly compared to the reflexes of a rabbit and you’re frozen as you desperately scramble for the appropriate course of action, hands feeling thick and useless, mouth dry and feet imeasurably heavy there’s no way you’d outrun THESE, god there’s a rabies outbreak going around that shit’s not curable-
The Dog
L U N G E S
It’s only the briefest of movements but the animal you’d picked out for his gangly legs and floppy ears and goofy smile is suddenly a dark shape of muscle and teeth and had flung himself at the horrible goblin rabbits faster than mere physics should dictate, appearing in the circle of the flashlight for only the briefest of moments before the jolt from the leash makes you stumble and the light falters
The Jack Rabbits
Scatter
Vanishing into the faintly starlit sagebrush in as so many faint gray shapes that might be mistaken for the dustclouds they kick up
Later, you sit on the couch disquieted
and you wonder
If the sight of the Jack Rabbits standing and studying you was frightening enough to make you yearn for the safety of the yellowed streetlights
It’s been really hard lately to stay hopeful and helpful. I’m sure many people, like me, feel isolated and frustrated and frightened. I don’t think I know how to not feel those things, but every time I communicate, volunteer, donate, engage, I can put them behind me a little.
