Costa Rica Cost of Living Update: Wireless Internet—From $52/month to $330/month for download speeds ranging from 1M to 6M

I love libraries, the feeling of walking through the stacks looking for a book, checking out the new releases in the front, or just chatting with another book lover. I wrote my first resume on a computer at a library because I couldn’t afford one of my own. I remember being confused by the program, and a librarian came over to help, as did others sitting around me. It meant a lot back then and still does now.

Costa Rica does not have many libraries. It was one thing that disappointed me when moving here. Even though I didn’t know how to read Spanish, I wanted to learn and thought a library could be the perfect place to start. I could be that weird gringo in the corner reading a Spanish version of Dr. Seuss, but that was never going to happen.

However, there were dialup internet cafes and I stopped at many to email my parents and let them know that I was alive and well. I was not the weird gringo in the corner because there was already some strange guy back there, all by himself, who never looked up. I stayed clear of him, confident he was not reading Green Eggs and Ham.

Libraries are on my mind today because Dawn Beviano, my hometown librarian, contacted me. She is featuring my books for a week since she considers me a notable Lindenite. That surprised me since I’ve never been notable at anything before.

When my husband and I dated, he drove me through his hometown Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He stopped by his high school and said Tony Danza was also a past graduate. A picture honoring him hung in the hallowed halls. Rob appeared proud of this, and who wouldn’t be? Everyone loves Tony Danza. My husband actually sounds like Tony Danza. Of course, he does, they had the same English teacher. But Rob’s school suffered from, as per their Wikipedia page, “experienced criminal activity,” and not even the notable Tony Danza could tap dance this institution back into good standing. The high school ultimately closed.

Linden Library emailed me questions to answer, but I thought it would be fun to ask Dawn some of my own. 1988 was the last time I stepped foot in the building where I used their microfiche machine and scoured their card catalog. That was back when everyone used The Dewey Decimal System, which I have since learned from a not too exhausting Google search, is named after a real guy, Melvil Dewey.

Melvil was smart, demanding, and known to have made powerful enemies. This is ironic since he made powerful enemies out of every kid who found his classification system difficult to understand. “I just want to find the Mad Lib section,” little Timmy bemoaned in 1982. He was last seen between Social Sciences 300-399 and Fine Arts and Recreation 700-799.

Although Melvil was intelligent, he was also a misogynist who demanded that women applying for a library position include pictures of themselves. “You can’t polish a pumpkin,” he was known to say. That’s right Melvin, you can’t polish a pumpkin. But do you know what I can do? Write about how much of a jerk you were to those ladies. Polish that pumpkin, pal. Who knew a guy named Melvil could be such a creepo. You, sir, are no Tony Danza.

“Card catalogs, as you knew them, no longer exist,” Dawn said. “Everything is now computerized. Every item in the library’s inventory has a barcode and is scanned in and out. No more cards in the pockets, with the date stamps. When I tell my children that we used to have to thumb through index cards by author, title, or subject matter to find what we were looking for, their eyes glaze over. Now patrons go to a computer and search for what they want.

“The microfiche machine still exists but is being phased out. We are in the process of having our microfilm collection digitized. The film has begun to deteriorate over time, and we want to preserve those newspapers from the early 1900s. It will be a long process that will take several years.”

I was surprised to learn that the Linden Library offers so much more to the community than they did many years ago. “Lending museum passes is something new that many libraries are now utilizing!” Dawn explains. “It allows patrons to visit museums at no cost to them. Most libraries have a non-profit organization called The Friends of (insert library name). They fundraise and procure many of the “extra” items that a library has like the museum passes. Ebooks are pretty much standard now as are online audio books.

“Since we have so many children’s programs, they LOVE being here! From Lego club, chess club, game nights, movies, S.T.E.M, Girls who C.O.D.E, animal programs, trivia nights, story time, or arts & crafts – we keep them busy! There are also two computers in the children’s room that the children use when they want. They are downloaded with educational games and programs.”

I asked Dawn if people still get excited over reading. “Books will always be the heart of any library, ever since Benjamin Franklin began the first lending library, back in 1731. There’s excitement when a favorite author has a new release, finding that favorite book you loved growing up, or browsing the stacks until something catches your eye. There is something about the smell of the book, holding it, and turning the pages that allow you to live in the book…you can’t do that with an ebook… or that could just be me.”

Thank you, Dawn, and to all your colleagues for sharing my books and including me on your notable list. I’m hoping to do an author event there, and I plan on wowing the crowds. I’ll start with my 200-010 story of swimming in subterranean lakes with lazy crocodiles and end with the 862-222 tale of how I opened a bed and breakfast in a foreign land.

Then I will tell Dawn that I’m looking for a book, but I can’t remember the name, but it has a blue cover, with a horse on it. She says librarians love it when patrons do that.

Take a look at the cool Linden Library! www.facebook.com/Lindenpubliclibrary

Click here to check out my bed and breakfast, The Happier House. I would love to host more people from my hometown!