I just got back from walking to the library. about 3200 steps round trip. You see we almost always walk when we are in Silverton. Great exercise and saves fuel. And the weather is perfect today.
The public library in the town of Silverton is small which is to be expected. But it has some unexpected items of note.
- You need a library card to check out books if you are a "resident"...I'm not sure the definition of resident but since we will be here all summer, we qualify.
- I didn't show any ID to get my library card...that's trust.
- They keep your library card for you...because you might lose it.
- Books are checked out for "a reasonable time"...whatever that is.
- They have probably a couple of hundred books at the entrance that are for sale for 50 cents or less because they are old or duplicates. Duplicates! I guess they never need more than one copy.
- In spite of this, the library is computerized.
I found a nice selection of fiction and enjoyed a brief chat with Ruth Anne, the librarian.
Now as I was walking back home, I passed a guy who stopped to go into a store. That wouldn't be worth writing about but this was main street and he not only left the keys in the car, he left the engine running. Now that is trust!
But that is something small towns have...trust. This one at least. Last year, twice, people offered us their vehicles to use for short periods of time...keys in the vehicles.
You know, I'm struck every time we travel how compressed the population is into cities and how much space there is between cities. I know it is different in the north east but as we travel west from Austin to Colorado or California, we go for miles and miles between cities. I know that cities have the infrastructure and amenities that a small town doesn't have but it never ceases to amaze me how much wide open space we still have. Thank God for that!
Lindie