All posts tagged dear library

national library week 2013: the cookbook reviews.

by shannon on April 22, 2013 in dear library, general information and events with 32 Comments

national library week: cookbook reviews.

Dear past, present and future library patrons,

I feel like we had a really good national library week together, yes? I got cosy with a few cookbooks, made some recipes, and hopefully got a few of you turned on to all your local library has to offer. I was fortunate enough to read about how the library has been a big part of your lives, as well. So many of you already use the library on a regular basis (and love it as much as I do), and that was a delightful surprise. I loved hearing your memories of childhood library visits, and spending tons of time there during high school and college, or losing touch with the library but finding your way back. It seems like everyone has a different favorite thing about the library, and that’s maybe what makes libraries so great; so many things to love. Continue reading →

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dear library: day four (with honeybee cupcakes)

by shannon on April 18, 2013 in brunch, dear library, desserts with 14 Comments

honeybee cupcakes.

Dear Library,

So do you see now why I talk about you all the time? We’ve been through a lot together, and I’ll never leave you. When college ended, I threw myself back into recreational reading with full force. With your spiffy online ordering system, your entire catalog was mine, at quite literally the touch of a button. It’s fantastic: if a book I want is really popular, I can even place myself in a virtual line and you will not only alert me when it is available, you will deliver it to my closest branch for pickup.

By the way, your online search and request system is excellent; so much more streamlined than when it first began, Library. You haven’t just sat by and done the bare minimum, no; you’ve continually updated it to make the whole process easy for everyone. I use my online account so much that I’ve memorized my library card number. Continue reading →

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dear library: day three (I made you sugar cookies.)

by shannon on April 17, 2013 in desserts, general information and events with 23 Comments

piece of cake sugar cookies.

Dear Library,

I don’t love to admit this, but there was a time in my life that I didn’t think I needed you; I was wrong about that. After high school, and a few half-hearted attempts at college classes, I thought maybe living my life was way more important than learning things from books. I kept working full-time; no college for me, at least not at that point. I was burned out, needed a break, and if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I had zero ideas about what I really wanted to do with my life.

Looking back, I don’t think that was a bad move on my part. I still don’t understand how most kids know at the wee age of 18 what they want to do with the whole rest of their time on the planet. Some do: I have a friend whom I’ve known since middle school who always wanted to be a veterinarian, and she is – you guessed it – a veterinarian now. But it seems like most kids have roughly the same idea of their future at 18 years old as they did at 8, when their hearts were set on being astronauts or race car drivers. Continue reading →

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dear library: day two (also, crab + chile risotto.)

by shannon on April 16, 2013 in general information and events, mains with 17 Comments

crab + chile risotto.

Dear Library,

Let’s talk about high school. I wasn’t nearly as studious as I was in elementary school, but that didn’t dampen my love for reading. I still visited you regularly, although I mostly left behind my Nancy Drew in favor of more grown-up books. I never knew what I would find in your shelves, and I liked it that way; quite often, I would wander through your book-stacked aisles and grab what looked interesting. I found Barbara Kingsolver and Ellen Gilchrist this way, both before they were popular. I still read books by those two, and other authors I discovered purely by chance, to this day. Continue reading →

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dear library: a mini-series for national library week. (and spinach + ricotta turnovers)

by shannon on April 14, 2013 in appetizers, dear library, general information and events with 33 Comments

spinach + ricotta turnovers.

I’ve talked about my love of libraries for some time now. This week (April 14-20) is National Library Week, and I’m going celebrate it by talking about why the library has been important in my own life for over three decades, and why it should be important to you. Hopefully, your library is awesome, and you visit it regularly. You can use it for a multitude of things, from music to movies to, yes, every conceivable type of book. In this little corner of the internet, you’ve seen it used most often for cookbooks; in fact, many of the recipes I’ve researched, toyed with and practiced on over the past few years have come from none other than my lovely library. Continue reading →

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