Think globally, act locally

I think it is important to support your local businesses. However, when Picture Rocks is your nearest “metropolitan” area, that can be difficult, despite good intentions.

There are the businesses that have a physical presence (a hardware store, two gas stations, a hair salon, several churches, PRCC - a foodbank/thrift store, a branch of the Marana Health Center, the Wagon Wheel - a “grocery” store/bar, a feed store and whatever that is on the corner of Picture Rocks Road and Sandario – one week it is a tire place, the next a store that sells firewood, and then the local satellite provider…it’s hard to keep up) and those that you don’t see, usually run out of someone’s home (handyman-type businesses, roofers, a couple of nurseries, tax preparers). You get the idea.

But on the third Friday of the month, an important, temporary business comes to the Picture Rocks Community Center for an hour: the Pima County Public Library’s Bookmobile. On June 15, I was there waiting. The fellow who is the driver/librarian has held the position for years and absolutely loves it, though maybe not so much when it is over 100 degrees and the air conditioning is on the fritz. That was apparently the case last month, forcing him to take a few days off while it was repaired. Out of courtesy, he called all of his regular customers to give them a heads up and the option of renewing the materials they had checked out over the phone. A really nice gesture and appreciated by the patrons who stopped by while I was there.

All ready for the first customer of the day - me!

There is a little bit of everything on board: fiction, nonfiction, books for teens, first readers and picture books, magazines, the World Book Encyclopedia, DVDs, CDs and books on tape. He has a laptop so accessing the library catalog is no problem. There are free bookmarks and pencils, flyers about events, and copies of the Tucson Weekly. That is especially nice since it is not available out in this area.

After browsing for a while, I checked out two books for teens, Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales and So Not Happening by Jenny Jones, and an audiobook, Seriously…I’m Kidding, written and read by Ellen DeGeneres. I got a receipt that said Readrunners and a return date of July 20, the next time the Bookmobile is scheduled to stop by, rather than the typical 3 weeks.

So I’m all set for a while. Thanks Pima County Public Library for giving me the opportunity to “shop” local.