How I judge my community

One criteria I use in determining where to live is how user friendly the local library is and how easy it is to access. In the last two towns I lived, Taos, New Mexico and Guilford, Vermont, I was fortunate to have access to excellent library systems.

Guilford's Library is one of the smallest, but among the friendliest. It was so quaint, tiny and community minded, they didn't even have a library card but instead used the face recognition system.

During the summer I lived in Vermont I read about 60 books from their inventory, and inter-library loaned nearly as many. When I left in September, the librarian permitted me to take two books with me until I finished them. I returned them by post.

Now here at the border of New York and Pennsylvania, I am also fortunate to have two especially helpful library systems and exceptional librarians. The Callicoon Branch of the Western Sullivan County system has gotten me every book I've asked for this year and quickly.