Today's happy accident: signing up for the city library

Message notifications woke me up this morning at eight. It’s about this hour that my phone’s do-not-disturb phone settings deactivate. So, on a Saturday morning, a day I normally do not have work commitments, I got up from bed.

I respond to messages which came in during the night. Most of the messages come from across different time zones. I proceeded with the morning routine in the bathroom to prepare me for the morning. I finally got around to doing yin yoga, completely forgetting I’m still curing a one-month and a-half-old foot injury. And yet, I got through. I prepared an unusual breakfast. These days, I found myself not getting anything for breakfast besides a full glass of water and a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Today, I fried some bacon and toasted two slices of bread.

I read a few pages from last night’s new read – Meredith, Alone, which is a recommendation from my sister (more on that soon because I can relate too much with this book, I know I will definitely write about it). I also finally revived the Kindle my cousin-slash-ninang (godmother) gifted from last May.

It’s now 9 am. I started to skim through the required reading I asked my students to work on for the Philippine literature class I’m subbing for while we recruit a new professor. In the next three hours, I had six summaries to evaluate.

Are we jumpstarting October 1 just right? I think so!

It’s almost noon. B’s awake. It’s been a productive morning. Sure. But my head begins to spin (again), and I need to head out. I’m feeling that I’m starting to have cabin fever from staying in since Thursday, hoping to cure my ailment. See, I’ve been sick. But I’ve been better. Now, I need to head out to get some of that Vitamin D.

B and I decided to skip the usual stroll around Paris today and instead, just walk around our suburban town. Passing by the city library right next to the town hall and right in the heart of the city center, I invited B to come to check it out with me. He obliged.

I only had my phone with me, and none of my IDs. In classic Leni fashion, I impulsively and suddenly felt the urge to sign up. The receptionist was busy attending to other users, so we ambulated around and browsed through the city library’s collection while waiting for our turn. I would have to wait a bit longer to know if it was possible to enlist that very same day.

I’m impressed with how well-maintained, curated, and organized everything was for a small suburban city. It was also frequented by city dwellers, and it was a pleasant sight to see.

I thought to myself: I can work here! I also exclaimed it to B. Only trouble was, it was a dead spot. Quicky, I figure I can use that to my advantage. That way, I can get more work done. It will also be a place away from everything but be so close to home.

At the perfect cue, B and I got back to the receptionist’s desk in time when she finished attending to the last users. She accepted the scanned version of my ID and signed me and B up for the city library. While she seemed to do things hastily, she was also pleasant and accommodating. After registering our information in the system, she oriented us around. It functions like the other city libraries I’ve been to – those in Paris and Rouen. The different perk with this subscription from the Parisian city libraries was renting DVDs and CDs are included for free, while in Paris, you have to pay an additional fee to access those materials (I wrote about signing up for the Paris public library here).

I hurried back to the second floor where the books for adult readers are and grabbed two of the books I’d been eying. I thought I’d check the online catalogue for more, but I satisfied myself with two selections for now. As we went down to check out the books, the librarians were more than happy to assist us.

Knowing I'll return soon, I left the library satisfied. For now, I’m back home to do more work, and hopefully, finally, get my hands on those books about Brazil I borrowed from the library. No rush though, I have three weeks to devour the information in these books.