"No Card for You!"

     "A library card will cost you $60.00."
      "No there is no possible way we could give you a library card"
      Ok!  No one ever responded with The Jerry Seinfeld Soup Nazi Line "No soup for You" but that is how I felt a few times.  "No card for You!"
      When I ask for a library card for my collection I usually get one. It may take a little explaining but almost always the result is positive. But not always. Today's blog will feature the libraries that would not give me a library card.
      Let me start with a nice country library about 20 miles southwest of Nashville, TN. First let me say that I do not collect library cards from every library I drive by.  The idea behind my collection is not how many cards I have but where they came from.
      I stopped by Leiper Fork because the name intrigued me.  Here is a picture of their library sign.

My pouting face and thumbs down sign should give you all the visual clues you need to know I did not get a library card here!
      There are several valid and understandable reasons a library  staff will not give me a card. First is the odd nature of the request. A person they have never seen before, who lives in another state, just walks in and asks for a library card. Yes that is probably an unusual request. The front desk staff know they will not get in trouble if they say no, but might if they say yes. So the answer is No.
      I often ask for the director or someone in charge.  It is still an unusual request for them as well but when they learn I just want a souvenir card (not an active working card) they nearly always say yes.
      If I am in a state such as Indiana where local taxes support the library it gets more difficult. Many of the smaller village or town libraries charge non-residents for a card. For instance if you live in town you can get a card for free,  if you live in the county, but outside of town you will be charged a fee.  Usually it is small ($25-$30) but I have seen it for as much as $60 a year.  If you live outside the county, but in the state you might be able to get a card if you pay even higher rates. If you are from outside the state then there is just no possible way you will get a card.
      Then there is a reason not to give me a card that only professional librarians will understand. "Well, all of our cards have a bar code numbering system and if we give you a card and don't enter that number in our system it will create problems"  or  "we don't have any way to track cards that are not entered in our system so it could cause some potential problems in our computer system."  Like i said I am not a professional librarian so I don't have the expertise to understand what it would mess up. I always worry that people with that complicated system might lose a card behind a filing cabinet or have a patron lose a card and need to get it replaced.  Then the computer would be missing the number of the lost card or one patron would have two numbers. That would really create computer problem!.  Like I said you really need a higher level of library training to understand this reason not to give me a library card.
   

      This classic Carnegie Library (on right) is located in Royal Center, IN. It is a small town about 10 miles north of Logansport, Indiana.
      Before I look at Royal center I should tell you about Logansport Library. I was there before they consolidated all the libraries in Cass county. As usual I was on the trail of old ancestors and since Logansport is the county seat and my Great grandfather and GGgrandfather lived 10 miles away in Royal Center I thought I would be able to gain additional information.
     There is a stereotypical library woman with a bun, no smile, all business, who spends her time hushing you and protecting Her library.   About ten years ago Logansport was lucky enough to have just such a librarian.
      "Yes we have a genealogical department and did you want to use it?"  After asking me several more questions she took me to an upper level where a room held some glass fronted book cases, each with a lock. I was instructed to look at the books (behind the glass) and then come and get her to retrieve the book I wanted to look at.  When I did she opened a desk drawer and pulled out an old metal band-aid box and dumped several keys on the desk. Finding the correct key she unlocked the glass and handed me the book I wanted.  I left a few minutes later without requesting a second book. The thought of asking her for a library card sent a chill through my bones. It was completely out of the question.

I like the Royal Center library. (I didn't get a card here either.  they charge a fee for non-residents) The kind lady there did all she could to help me locate information on my relatives. I have dozens of kinfolk buried in this area. My Father, Grandfather, G grandfather and GG grandfather were born here.
To the left are two pictures of the inside of the Carnegie library in Royal Center.  When I was at THE Carnegie in Pittsburgh I learned that my Midwestern pronunciation was faulty. I called it Karna-gee and was told it should be karn-egg-ee with the emphasis on the second syllable.

There is nothing special about this room. This blog is titled Libraries Great and Small for a reason. I have shown you some great libraries, now we will look at some small ones.
     Although these pictures are not as exciting as some of the large beautiful libraries I have visited, I like this simpleness.  Here in small town America is a working library. It has books, computers, someone to assist you or your children with selections, and a safe environment for study. These pictures represent the thousands of wonderful small town libraries that do their very best to provide books that would otherwise be unavailable to rural America.
     Before the Internet these wonderfully simple facilities fired the imagination and fed the need for knowledge of countless millions and are part of what I think makes this a great country. A big tip-of-the-hat and a profound thank you to the people who work in these delightful small town libraries doing what they do best; serving the informational and recreational reading needs of small towns across the nation. Thank You!
 
    While in New England a few years ago i saw a library card that was the most unusual I have ever seen. It was in a small antiques store in Nashua, New Hampshire and was not for sale. So it is another library card I did not get to add to my collection.

Here is the "library card". It is a coin, or metal token they called a ticket.. Below you can see both sides of this interesting piece of Americana.
See below for close ups.
 One side of the coin says Bradford Free Libraries. On the bottom  "Open daily from 9:00 AM- 9:30 PM"
The other side says "This ticket is issued subject to"
Then the ticket #945
on the bottom "The rules and regulations"
The coin is actually a copper color as shown to the left. I enhanced the photos so the lettering was sharper and the color changed.  The owner of the shop would not even discuss how much he wanted for this library ticket. It was simply "No card for You"

      Iron River, Michigan is located in the western end of the upper peninsula about 7 miles north of the Wisconsin border.  It was a major iron mining community and a prosperous town at one time. That time was long ago.  It was where my wife and I started our careers as teachers.  We stayed for seven years.  A few years ago we were visiting in the area and I stopped at the Iron River Library to get a souvenir card.
      Ever walk into a gas station in a small rural community and have the conversation stop as you walked in? That is about the time you notice everyone checking you out with a squinty eyed look that sort of says "Who are you---and what do you want?"  Well that is the same uneasy feeling I had when I walked into the Iron River Library.  My explanation that I had lived there for 7 years and taught at the high school and could I please have a souvenir library card because I collect library cards and would you like to see any of my collection - was all met with the same level of coolness. The area is very friendly to tourist dollars but not to outsiders who want to stay or who ask too many questions.  Needless to say I did not leave there with a library card. It had been a few years since I had left and it was nice to visit again and discover that nothing had changed.
      I just checked the Internet and I see they have a new building so I am sure it is a very friendly, warm and welcoming library today.

      And finally the best reason ever for not giving me a library card.  When I visited the Amana Colonies in Iowa I realized I had not seen a library building.  Some local folks helped me find it. The public library is the school library, and housed in the high school building. The picture to the left shows the friendly, smiling staff who would have been very happy to give me a library card, but they don't use them!  That's right they don't use a card system for checking out books because everyone knows everyone here. I have forgotten how they keep track of who has which book. Maybe they write their names on a list?  Anyway I am holding the key chain that has the name of the library. That was the closest thing they had to a souvenir library card. It was a fun visit to a lovely group of villages.
      There are other places where I wanted a card but the library was closed. I was especially disappointed that the new Clark County library was closed when I went there.
Clark County Library?  Oh I guess I forgot to tell you that when I went to Las Vegas I went to the library, the Clark County Library.


     In the coming weeks look for the exceptional Findlay, OH Library, several presidential libraries (who don't have library cards) and several State libraries that do issue cards. Hope you enjoy reading about these libraries as much as I enjoy writing about them.  I always welcome your comments  See the side bar for information about getting additions, or corrections to this blog.  If you know of a wonderful library you think I would enjoy please let me know. Thanks for reading.