The switch

For a very long time now, I have been meaning to make the switch to compact fluorescent lightbulbs in my apartment, so I began this process yesterday, when my last incandescent bulb burned out in the lamp on the table next to the sofa when I first got up yesterday morning. I had a 75 watt CFL (compact fluorescent lightbulb) that I was given at an environmental table at the Kent Heritage Festival last year, and it being the only bulb left in the house, I installed it in my lamp. However, it failed to be bright enough to read by, but I figured it'd suffice until I could get to a store to buy a brighter one, so after work yesterday, I went to the store and bought two packages of 100 watt CFL's that only use 26 watts of energy, thereby saving on greenhouse gas emissions from the production of electricity. These bulbs last for literally years, meaning I won't have to buy lightbulbs again for a very, very long time, so there will be further energy savings there as well. We've completely switched to using CFL's at church, so I figured that there was no time like the present to start the switchover at home. When each incandescent bulb burns out, it will be replaced by a CFL until every light has one. I turn on lights very seldom in some rooms, so it may be quite a while before the complete switchover is made, but at least I have made a start, trying my best to do my part to curb global warming. My car, a 2007 Hyundai Accent hatchback, is also an ultra-low emissions vehicle and has a "superior green rating" from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, so I'm trying to gradually be more environmentally sensitive to what I do each day. This switch to just one CFL will save 450 pounds of emissions of greenhouse gases, and if each home in America switched just one CFL, the savings would be enough to light 3 million homes for one year and would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of 800,000 cars! Just think of what we could do if we all made the switchover. Sure, they're a little more expensive and they can be tough to dispose of because of mercury contained in them, but Wal-Mart surprised the heck out of me yesterday by telling me that when my bulbs do burn out, to return the bulbs to them and they will recycle them properly. OK, so Wal-Mart is the store we all love to hate, but maybe they do some things right. In this case, by properly recycling CFL's, they're doing their part for the environment, so thank you, Wal-Mart. Let's hope you're true to your word.

OHIO LIBRARY COUNCIL NE CHAPTER CONFERENCE

Yesterday, I went to the Ohio Library Council's annual Northeast Chapter Conference at Kent State University. I always enjoy going to this event because the KSU Student Center is within walking distance to my house or a very short little hop of a drive, a few short minutes, from my house, meaning I have more time in the morning to read the newspapers and enjoy my breakfast. It's also fun to meet other folks who work in libraries and to learn new things that I may or may not be able to apply to my job. Yesterday, I went to sessions on genres of Christian fiction, a growing area of demand among our patrons and an area with which I am not at all familiar, a session on books that should have made the bestseller list and were, as a result, sort of "under the radar", a session on surviving customer service, an increasingly necessary skill to have as people grow increasingly more rude and demanding of people who work in service professions, and finally, a session on TV series on DVD, something I am noticing more and more people wanting to check out. People spend whole weekends holed up on their sofas vegging out on old TV series on DVD and doing nothing else but that. Is it any wonder that America suffers from burgeoning rates of obesity and higher health care costs? These TV series on DVD are encouraging more and more people to become full time couch potatoes, as people are very passionate about their favorite TV shows and want to see the whole series start to finish, and heaven help you if one season's worth of a TV show is either checked out or missing. They want it NOW! And won't be happy until you produce it NOW! How many times have I wanted to bellow, "Well, if you want it that bad, go to Blockbuster! What do you think we are, a video store that guarantees that your movie will be in?" Or, "Hey, just spend the money and join Netflix!" Honestly, it makes it so much more stressful now that so much more is expected of us in libraries. I'm almost looking forward to my retirement in 5 years, trust me. Still, it is fun when you find a die-hard reader willing to take the plunge into a book that you recommend and they come back to you and tell you how wonderful it was. That's enough to make my day and make this profession rewarding for me. I am tired, though, after 25 years in the library, and look forward to finally having time to read all those books I've promised myself I'd get to when I retire!