Photo-finish Friday: hello, goodbye

 

Today is a sad goodbye to another neighbor. It's the Westwood branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. Brand new when we first moved here six years ago, it has always been a very busy place, with daily activities for all ages. Coming up the day I took this was their regular fund-raiser book sale.

For a city noted for its movie industry, where everyone with a laptop is working on a screenplay, LA has an enviable public library system. And it's still going strong despite budget cutbacks. This is one of over 70 branches. Besides books, it's got dozens of computers with Internet access, shelves of DVDs, audiobooks, and CDs. And free parking!

The coolest part is that you can get online at home and order up books from the catalog. They get delivered to the branch of your choice. You can renew online, and the only downside is that you have to eventually return them. For me, its massive and diverse holdings have been a resource as useful as just about any university library. It's going to be an adjustment living without it.

Photo-finish Friday is the bright idea of Leah Utas over at The Goat's Lunch Pail.