NPR Rediscovered

One of the best things about spending 3+ hours a day in the car is that I've rediscovered NPR.

To me, NPR is long-distance entertainment. I can't listen to it while I'm, say, driving to the grocery store. The trip only takes me 4 minutes, and I end up sitting in the car for another 5 minutes while I listen to the end of the story. But the 30 to 40 minute haul into town, then back, twice a day is a perfect chance to really listen to some great reporting, interviews, slice-of-life stories, and all else that makes great listening.

Today's "Morning Edition" show was a great one. Steve Inskeep talked with Nancy Pearl, a librarian who gave some great picks on short story collections. I've busily added 6 of these to my library hold list (I was happy to find all the ones which intrested me are in our circulation) - I hope I'm as entertained by the books as I was by listening to her.

Writing of libraries... Our great city has spent $95 million building a new main branch downtown at Hemming Plaza. This new library will include

"300,000 square feet of space, including a cafe, bookstore and a 400-seat auditorium."

Unfortunately, building this wonder has left the budget in a shortfall, so all the other branches of the library are being forced to shorten their hours to compensate.

Duval county covers a huge geographic area. Most people won't be able to go downtown to use this marvel. Their busy days barely allow them the time to dash into to a convienently placed branch near their work or home. I'm happy for the few people who will be able to make use of the new main library; I'm frustrated that I will not be one of these people. The new hours will have my beaches branch shut during both of my key library-going times - right after dropping Samantha at school, and after she has gone to bed. When I do go now, it will likely be more crowded (and our branch already often has a full parking lot). Sad :(