Library access

I get emails all the time from the University of California library about the books I have checked out, whenever one of them is due for renewal. As a graduate student, I can check most books out for 3 months at a time. Undergraduates get the books for three weeks I think, whereas professors can check out a book for a whole year. Anyhow, considering the number of books I have checked out over the last 8 months, I get these emails a lot. 

And I do not mind one tiny little bit. 

When I was here in Berkeley last October, I could not get into the library at all.

You see, unlike the University Library in Iceland, the University Library at Berkeley is absolutely off-limits, unless one is a student. The same goes I think for every university library in the United States. Just to get into the library at the University of Washington, without even checking anything out, I had to show a current student ID from another university, and fill out a form with my name and address and phone number. 

It is one of those small details that no one thinks about but graduate students in the United States. I worry about having library access after I file my dissertation. As soon as I am no longer enrolled, my access is denied. And that is kind of a scary thought. 

So while lots of people I know are scrambling around for a Google + update, I am keeping my ears open for any really great library collection I can use in perpetuity. Without having a CIA background check and paying more than I pay for health insurance, that is. 

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