Libraries

BOOKS – More than just bicycle stands!

I remember first leaning to read. It was my first year at school. I was in baby class in the corrugated iron hut, separated from the main Yorkshire stone building. My teacher had a dog called Ben who used to sleep in front of the old coal stove with the iron chimney that rose up through the roof. The afternoon sun streamed through the window on my back as I sat at a long low table. In front of me lay the book ‘Little Black Sambo’ Suddenly, the letters that had appeared as separate entities began to form into words and I could read, I was in heaven. My passion for reading was unbridled and I obtained my first library card by the time I was six years old.

Libraries today are streets away from the time I joined my first library. Then, the gas lighter used to come at dusk, lighting up the streetlights one by one. There would be a smell of wood and coal smoke in the air, sometimes the whiff of burnt toast and I‘d walk home with my books in the chill of winter, counting my steps from one gaslight to the next until I reached streets where electric streetlights cast wider arcs of light, then up the hill and home.

So now you are in Bonn and want to join a library. In order to join a library in Germany you must first produce an “Anmeldungsbescheinigung” obtained from the Rathaus in your area, it also best to take along your passport just in case. There are various charges for joining with different privileges but the best value is the annual subscription fee othis covers all the libraries in the Bonn area including the music library and you can check out items without incurring extra charges.

Bonn libraries have English language section as well as small selections of French and Spanish materials. There is also a selection of English videos, music CD’s and DVD’s. As with the Music library media items can be checked out for a week. The library is also pleased to accept donations of books, CD’s or DVD’s in good condition. I organised my CD’s,  copied my favourite tracks onto an MP3 player then donated the CD’s to the music library. I also passed on my unwanted books that were in good condition to Frau Trimborn, Tel. (0228) 774593 at Bonn Central. They are pleased to accept all donations in good condition. The music library has over 2000 CD’s. One is allowed 15 CD’s at any time; this includes any CD’s that have three or four to one case. If, like me, you are catching up on obtaining music from the past for an MP3 player, this is an ideal time to check out what is on offer in the latest digitally re-mastered CD’s some CD’s are older and there is a lot of difference in sound quality. However, I managed to get three Steely Dan CD’s, which saved me downloading the tracks I wanted on-line at about Euro 1.15 to 1.49, a track. (If you don’t know already, T-Online have a download site for music and this can be charged directly to your telephone account – the only drawback to this is that you cannot listen to all the tracks in order to ascertain which ones you remember from the past!! I had to go into Amazon.com to listen first, jot down the titles, and then download. Inter-links for info on media, libraries, theatres are as follows:

http://www.theatrelibrary.org/sibmas/idpac/europe/de604.html

http://www.bonn.de/stadtbibliothek/musik.html

Happy browsing.

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