I remember getting my first library card at the age of 10 at the Bucks County Library System Fallsington, Pa Branch. It was right up the street and easy to get to. Age ten was about the time that I really started reading other things then comic books and stuff for school. The library had the complete collection of the Hardy Boys novels. I read all of them one summer, usually 2 a day.

So do you have a library card? If not why? With the way the economy is these days the library is the place to go. I spend a few hours a weekend at book stores just browsing and taking it easy. I rarely buy many books though…I write down the names of books that look interesting and then go to the library and just check out the book. If they don’t have it I try for an inter library loan.

Tired of paying for movie rentals…guess what go to your local library and see what they have. They probably won’t have the most recent releases but they may have a few you haven’t seen yet from last year or a few months ago.

That library card also can get you on the Internet, most libraries have free Internet terminals for there library card holders. This service is also available to non residents for a slight fee. I always tell people who are traveling in the USA that if you are in a bind and have to get on the Internet to always check out the local library.

Remember that the library is a great place to do research on things as well as a quiet place to do work. When I need to get out and work on projects with very little distractions I go to the library. Some libraries are starting to add coffee shops so if you have one of those what more can you ask for. The coffee at libraries is usually cheaper then at the local coffee shop so another savings.

Also check out the events or meetings being held at your library you may find out there is a group meeting about your favorite hobby or computer operating system.

So lets run down why you should visit you local library and why you should have a library card:

1. Free books to read
2. A place to rent movies at no cost
3. Free Internet if you are a resident of the area (small fee if you aren’t)
4. Great place to do research and work

I have only listed a few of the benefits of the local library and each library is different. So go visit your local library and see what is available. Hey your taxes are funding it so it’s yours to use.

Carolyn has been hitting the pavement the last few months looking for a job. With the economy the way it is not many people are hiring. Yesterday the local school district called to schedule and interview.

So today at 10:30 she has an interview for a position in the after school program in one of the elementary schools so please keep your fingers crossed that she does well and they hirer her.

More later

Last night was the August meeting of LOPSA-NJ and before hand Brian Jones and I the Co-Founders of the group sat down to figure out how to increase the meeting attendance.

We both realize that something has to be done to make the group grow. Currently we have 149 subscribers to the lopsanj mailing list, but are only getting about 4 to 15 people showing up at the meetings.

Marketing came up as a way to get the word out about the group, but before we can market the group we have to get good viable consistent topics. This seems to be an issue with all groups I have been talking to in the area. Most of them just keep pushing on there members to come up with topics. Meeting attendance

The other topic that came up last night was we don’t seem to be getting any junior admins or even any Windows admins coming to the meetings. What would bring in those admins? I know more topics geared for Windows or the junior admin. So we are back to topics.

So I ask you the NJ System Administrators what interesting projects are you working on that you want to talk about to the group. What topics do you want to hear about? How do you feel about this group as a whole? Do you feel that this is just a waste of your time? How do you think we could make the meetings better so you would come to meetings?