RE: Geri's suggestion to use inter-library loan... When I first began to make lace, I went to our local library to borrow books, but they only had one or two... very old at that and not much help for a beginner. Inter-library loan did not net any more. The problem, according to the librarian, is that books are ordered based on their genre, and the genres that have the most circulation are the ones which take up the most space in the shelves. If two lace books are ordered, but then never checked out, then not only are more lace books not ordered, but those they have are eventually consigned to the sale table to make room for books that do circulate.
A good friend advised me early on to keep my eyes open when the new lace books came out. She told me I should buy them when I saw them, because they sometimes quickly went out of print. This was very good advice, which I took to heart. It seems to me that in those days, there were lots more books coming out each year, and that they were not so expensive as today's books. Still, I think that the advice is still sound. That does not help newcomers to lace, however, who are finding it difficult to get the books they need. But I think it may give us a clue about one of the factors contributing to a decline in membership numbers. When I was president of the local guild, we prepared a display for the library during the month of October each year, and demonstrated there twice a week all month. As a result, there was a surge of interest in books, and we always got one or two new members. But, I believe that has not been done for quite a few years. Clay - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
