Lmst

I know it's twee to romanticise libraries, but it will never not amaze me that we can ask for a book they don't have and a librarian in a local library on the far side of the country will walk over to pick it off a shelf and send it to a librarian in my local library who will walk over to put it on a shelf, reserved for me, just for me, for free.

#Libraries
#HappyTaxpayer

A section of shelves at my local library (Aarhus, Denmark) filled with rows of reservations, including inter-library loans - mostly books but also some CDS and DVDS

@Mayobrot I am going to have to DuckDuckGo that, I think. I think of library socialism in the sense of #SocialismRocks and #HappyTaxpayer as I admire and use their services, but I think you may be referencing something more specific. I shall look it up!

“Borges imagined that Paradise would be a kind of library. I think Paradise is a library like Dokk1. This is the most surprising and wonderful library I've ever been in. Now I want to be a librarian in Dokk1.”

Yan Lianke, at his LiteratureXchange event held at Dokk1 Aarhus Main Library. It was a delight to see how delighted he was by our library. We are lucky.

#Aarhus #LitX
#Libraries #HappyTaxpayer

Looking over the heads of silhouetted audience members in the first rows towards the stage at the Aarhus International Literary Festival (LiteratureXchange) event ‘The macabre, the magical and social criticism’ – Yan Lianke in conversation . On stage, left: moderator Peter Damgaard. Right: Yan Lianke. In the middle, the wonderful interpreter who made the whole evening possible, translating swiftly and live and unscripted between Danish and Chinese, and yet I cannot credit her by name here because I cannot find her name on the event site or anywhere else.

Looking from an outer pier at Aarhus Harbour in towards Dokk1 – Number 1 Dock. This is both the name of the main dock the mid-city port and the name of the library that was built on it about 8 years ago. The library is a huge, striking, four-storey modern geometric building right on the waterfront with picture windows and wraparound terraces and outdoor playgrounds and seating areas and community spaces that maximise the fabulous view and location. The sky is cloudless and light blue. Beyond the city skyline including spires and turrets on historic buildings. Symbols for the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals are painted in white on a lower section of the library. The sea in front of it is rippling, deep blue. In a splash of contrasting colour, a bright orange dinghy is just sailing past. We can just see the tiny figures of kids playing and people walking, cycling, sitting, hanging out on the terraces.

No matter how often I do it, it will never not seem like magic to me that I can borrow subscription magazines and newspapers and ebooks and audiobooks from all over the world in a matter of seconds, free of charge and without leaving my wing chair.

#Libraries
#HappyTaxpayer
#SocialismRocks

It’s not like The New Yorker to get its facts wrong. But I have not, in fact, run out of free articles. Because I have, in fact, a library card.

#Libraries
#Bibliotek
#HappyTaxpayer

Screenshot of a short story on the fiction page of the The New Yorker's online edition. The page is greyed out and pop-up window covers most of it. It says 'We hope you enjoyed your free article' under the headline You've Run Out. Then there are subscription prices and a link to click for paid digitial access.

One evening at ER and three days in hospital. Total cost €190.60. Won't complain. #HappyTaxPayer #PublicHealthcare #healthcare #hospital #EmergencyRoom

Annual round-up of abandoned bikes in Aarhus. The council tapes a notice to apparently abandoned bikes, then collects them after 30 days.

This year, the bikes in good shape are being sent to Ukraine. Aarhus cancelled its Twin Town agreement with St. Petersburg when Russia invaded. It invited Lviv to be its twin town instead. So Aarhus and Lviv became ‘sister cities’ and now have, among other things, 300 bikes in common.

Flot gået - nice work, Aarhus Kommune

#Aarhus #HappyTaxpayer
#Bikes #Lviv

A row of bikes parked higgeldy-piggeldy on an Aarhus city street, several of them marked with the yellow tape described in the toot. In black type, it explains that its council tape and that the bike’ll be taken away if the tape hasn’t been removed after 30 days. The city crest is on the tape too.

@sierrakim Glædelig fredag - happy Friday to you too! Yes, in Denmark, we're lucky to have great libraries that are completely free, even inter-library loans.

#HappyTaxpayer #Libraries

And special praise to the librarians who bought this beautiful edition so that everyone can enjoy it for free.

#Libraries #SocialismRocks
#HappyTaxpayer

A beautiful edition of Olga Tokarczuk’s The Lost Soul with gorgeous, thoughtful, gently melancholic illustrations by Joanna Concejo. This is my Danish-language edition, translated by Hanne Lone Tønnesen. It is a slim hardback published by Batzer and Co with gorgeous effects like opague wafer-thin leaves creating a sudden change from monochrome to colour that fits the storyline and maths-paper square ruled pages that reflect a metaphor in the story.

So my first encounter with the Finnish tax office has been rather good. Yes, I had to go into their office, take a number, and wait. But each time the wait was under 30 minutes and service was friendly, helpful, and efficient (the second visit was to pick up documents they prepared for me).

#happytaxpayer!

#HappyTaxpayer

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