94 Day DCVersary; I Miss the Library

Only 4 days late this time. The 120 day update should be on time. New Year’s got in the way.

Still a green light on the entire experience. One way I can tell this is from the handy Macintosh calendar widget that I use to keep track of events coming up. Since I came here, I haven’t updated it to anything coming up – it is just tracking days since I arrived.

There’s an incredible amount of history and change here happening at the same time. Many of the streets I walk on regularly did not used to be walkable in a safe manner just 5-10 years ago (I remember), and a few of the streets I walk on are getting to that point. I have been a little light on attendance at some of our nation’s treasures, instead preferring to discover the treasures in the immediate radius of the community I reside in.

An excellent report came out last week from the Pew Internet & American Life Project about information seeking and library use. There’s data that library use is alive and well, and more prevalent among Generation Y. This tracks my own experience, in that I discovered the library about 3 years ago and have been hooked ever since. Unfortunately, it appears that the District library system is not as well funded as the Seattle Public Library is, which is a shame. I fear that I may have to go back to buying books. I worry more about people who cannot just buy books. I think there’s a great case for continued, generous, funding for libraries everywhere. They are an information system for health care, and life in general. One thing I would like to explore while I am here is supporting the District Library. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to add your comments to this post.

Ted Eytan, MD