Paradise is a kind of library

County libraries in the United States go beyond storing books to offer various community services, says GEETA PADMANABHAN.

IT is my young grandson's unusual enthusiasm for the library that took me there. His mother uses the visit as a bait to get him to do things. "Complete your homework and we'll go to the library," she says and it works! I just had to see this fairyland that enticed kids with nothing more than printed matter!

We walked into the Fremont library and the first thing that caught my attention was the row of computers. School children were browsing for books or for help with their assignments. Behind the reception desk was a spacious area earmarked for children. Happy children's drawings unfettered by rules brightened the far wall. Large racks on the sides were piled with hundreds of children's books. The boy chose an armful of books and headed for the stuffed rocking chair in a corner. There, plumping the child on her lap, my daughter began to read aloud the book the boy held in his hands while rocking the chair gently. Heavenly!

I walked around the various sections of the library housed in large, bright, well-ventilated rooms. Then I sat at the huge front window overlooking the lovely garden surrounding the building.

The Fremont Library belongs to a unique system that connects all the libraries in the County to a central one. The libraries are well spaced-out to cater to groups of housing societies. The Alameda County Library and its 11 affiliates are all run by the District Council. This system helps them to function as one large library with branches located in different areas. Tax payers vote for or against setting up a library.

Anyone who lives, works or goes to school in a particular state (in this case California), can get a free membership card in any of these libraries. You apply, prove your identity with a driver's licence/ California ID, a cheque book with a pre-printed address, a rental agreement, a property lease or deed, a property tax receipt or just post-marked mail and the same day you become a member!

Are you a child under 14? No problem! Get your parent or guardian to sign the application form and include his/her driving licence number.

Using this card, you can borrow books, audio and video cassettes, Encyclopaedias, magazines, pamphlets and CD-ROMS. The number of the materials you can borrow at a time is limited only by the availability and your ability to carry them. Loan periods for these items vary between one and three weeks and a nominal fine is charged if you overshoot it. Children's materials are exempt from fines. The library sends you a polite note reminding you of the materials overdue. The words "Return the materials even if you can't pay the fines," make you feel so ashamed and you don't want to be reminded again.

The library has bookdrops that help you return the materials even when it is closed. Can't finish the book you have borrowed? Click on the library's web site (or call) before the due date and put in a request for renewal. If another member has not asked for the copy, and if your fines do not exceed five dollars, the book is yours for the next few weeks. The "status" field will now display a new due date.

What if you want to reserve a book or some other material? Click on "Request" and fill in the boxes with the information asked for or cancel it if you change your mind later.

If, like my daughter, you live in a house rained in by books and can't remember the titles or due dates of the borrowed books, enter your name and ID number and get to see your record with the library.

There is a lot more to these libraries than being storehouses for books. They offer community services and would like you to get involved in their projects and outreach programmes by giving of your time and talents.

What can you do as a library volunteer? You can take books and materials to people who are not able to visit the library (they are called shut-ins here). You can enroll yourself as a "booklegger" and visit classrooms to promote reading. You could be one of 200 to 250 volunteers who help in cataloguing books for circulation, putting books in order on the shelves, checking in and labelling, reshelving materials and taking part in special library projects. You could also be a computer facilitator at the library to help people find books and resources. If you are a student, you can join the Kid Power Volunteer Programme during summer holidays and help with the summer reading activities.

The libraries have special facilities for elderly book lovers. I was absolutely thrilled to see many of the popular books printed in large letters for easy reading in the senior section. Books can be "heard" on audio cassettes if reading strains your eyes. Videos (standard, close captioned and descriptive) can be borrowed from a sizeable collection. Books are available for the visually impaired. They can also apply for volunteers to read to them.

To get an edge on your home assignments you need to look no further than the library's resources. These include full text magazine articles through infotrac, SIRS Researcher, Electric Library, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and online Encyclopaedias.

The library also stocks the annual magazines of all the schools in the district. The librarians keep hotlines open for teenagers to seek advice and maintain links with all the local schools.

Perhaps the most admired feature of the system is the Interlibrary Loan Service. If you want to borrow a book not listed in your local library's catalogue, all you need to do is pick up your phone and place an ILL request. For a two dollar fee, you will have the book or the photocopied material waiting for you at your branch!

The Alameda County Library has an excellent Online Book Club. You sign up with this free club and receive chapters from popular books in your daily e-mail. I've been reading them for sometime now and look forward to the new chapters every day. Suzanne Beecher, in charge of this programme, adds a few lines to bring all her online readers together.

Libraries all over the country manage a variety of projects depending on local needs.

In Liverpool, the New York Public Library offers online training to entrepreneurs. Other libraries feature foreign language classes, literacy courses and after-school activities. Some loan out tools; others toys.

I was also fortunate in being able to visit the Denver Public Library (DPL) in Denver, Colorado. World-renowned for its collection of books and photographs of Western History, it has been voted the best American Public Library in the U.S. It serves as an anchor for a library system that has 23 branches all over Denver. Its newsletter Viewpoint and a news release give me awesome statistics.

World famous architect Michael Graves and Denver's Klipp Dubois designed the new addition to the library which opened in March, 1995. With seven levels above ground and three additional levels below, the library has 540,000 square feet space. Forty-seven miles of bookshelves contain millions of books and materials and 1,400 people can be seated comfortably in its rooms. Over 400 staff members help visitors find books and materials. An astonishing 70 per cent of all Denver residents hold library membership cards.

The library's services go far beyond cataloguing books. Community members rely on the library for a wide variety of activities. One-third of all Denver children participate in the Summer Reading Programme. Children and adults take part in After School, English-as-a-second-language classes, book discussions and attend workshops on finance, the Internet, travel, science, gardening and other subjects.

The community in turn rallies around the library handsomely. The Denver Public Library has a Friends Foundation which sponsors annual events such as the Rare Book Auction, The Authors-on-Stage series, and the popular Used Book Sale.

As in California, you can use the free library card to borrow materials from other Colorado public and academic libraries. In fact, the Interlibrary Loan Department will help you borrow from libraries around, yes, around the world. You can borrow as many books and materials from the library as you like. DPL also honours borrower's cards from most other libraries statewide.

The DPL shows special care to its handicapped members. Wheelchair ramps and elevators give them easy access to the different floors. The hearing-impaired can reach the library through TTY, a telecommunications device. Braille books are available for the visually handicapped along with the services of reading volunteers.

And the children! Activities for them during August, September and October included making mini mobiles, paper aeroplanes, mini helicopters and PC flight simulators. In a free photography programme, apart from viewing the Western Collection, the kids were taken to the Civic Centre Park for a photography field trip.

Are you 50-plus years old? asks a handbill. If you are, welcome to join a book discussion group for seniors. They meet every month to discuss popular books. The discussions, held in the Burnham Hoyt Room, are moderated by a librarian though the choice of books is left to the participants.

For those who are unable to come to the library, the DPL runs a bookmobile. This colourful library-on-wheels can be seen on all days in different parts of the city lending and collecting books at the doorsteps of the members.

Of the several bookmarks I picked up from the handsome holders, one is a subject guide for children printed in bright letters with drawings. Every subject (from airplanes to humour to world wars) has a number which tells you where the books are on the shelves. Another talks of multicultural children's books whose aim is to "create an invaluable sense of empathy and understanding in youngsters."

Everything about the system seems to entreat you to explore the world of information and knowledge using nothing more than your fingertips.

In his book Seven Nights, Jorge Luis Borges says, "I had always imagined paradise as a kind of Library." I am not surprised that he thinks so.

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