Far Afield

I am a devoted fan of the local library, although my tangible displays of it go no further than visiting often and occasionally patronizing book sales. I have really taken to the Los Angeles Public Library system, making the acquaintance of the local branch in every neighborhood I've called home so far. With exceptions I've stuck to the local one, since volumes can be summoned from far away to any place you like.

I was delighted when I moved to my present accommodations that the library was again within very reasonable walking distance, as it has been in the past. Better, it belonged to the "regional" class of branches, which is meant to be open for longer hours and have more resources. That's less true than it used to be, but it isn't without meaning even now. This library is awfully nice as a building, but it doesn't have all that I would like inside its walls.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that its selection of movies is poor. It's true enough that the primary offering of any library is its books, but they ought to have decent movies as well. This one just doesn't, and you can't call movies in from other branches like you can books. I don't know why that is. Perhaps it would overwhelm the distribution network, as people would surely take full advantage of the privilege.

I've finally about given up on the movies available there at my local branch. The other day I went all the way down to Hollywood to get some movies from there. I couldn't walk there, and it took a whole lot longer, but it's worth it. They actually have a rather nice selection, perhaps because of their location and benefactor (The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation). I may make a habit of going there if I can make the trip any more efficiently.