When the Cheshire emerges...

Living in the country is hard. Not in the sense of being somewhere different, more in noticing change to the little things that city people take for granted.

To put it in perspective, I think Australia has this very distinctive city/country mentality to it. To those living in a capital city, anywhere outside is essentially 'the country', while those living regional realise that the 'real' country is the actual Outback. Desert. I've been one to learn of this distinction very quickly.

With the (pure) coincidence of today being the launch of Australia's National Year of Reading, I'm thinking about a whole different kind of love on Valentine's Day today... in Adelaide I was a frequent user of the public library system. Living a seven minute walk from my local branch, it offered just as much as a Video Ezy, more than an Internet cafe and then of course there was the catalogue.

It was the first place I saw 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die... I borrowed that book for something ridiculous like six months straight. My personal copy is now my Bible.

Libraries have always been an integral part of my being, having been an avid reader as a child and still very appreciative of the written today. Obviously. So as I've begun using what's offered at Macquarie Regional Library's Dubbo branch a few things have taken me by surprise.

1. You can't just log onto a computer to use the Internet if a monitor's free. You still have to go to the counter, wait, they take your name and how long you'll be, and then personally escort you to log you in. Weird.

You have to pay for stuff like photocopying, which is normal. However:

2. For email, and MICROSOFT WORD as well?! I don't understand. That just baffles me.

3. Whenever you pick up a hold it's $1.10. For putting something on hold. Sure, this library is one of six or seven connected branches that are as far as two hours away from each other so petrol could come into it. But libraries are a public service aren't they? I'm sure they're already gathering enough money from #2 as it is.

I used the free city system so much, and well. This should be put on the government, they should be giving more money into public services like libraries so the residents shouldn't have to pay for these simple facilities. We already have to pay more for other, bigger, things as well (I won't even get into flights), so why something like this?

Just one of many questions I have as a new regional resident I guess...