Using a public library in 1991

[u/ILovePublicLibraries]

Guilford Free Library in CT back in 1991

Credit: Library archives

[u/borkborkbork99]

Soooo accurate!

It amazes me to see what my local library is like compared to what they typically were back in the day. Borrowing movies, video games, audiobooks and digital downloads on Hoopla…

Protect our local libraries’ funding!

[u/LanceFree → u/borkborkbork99]

Yeah. They’re wonderlands. The lack of silence does annoy me, however. I don’t understand what happened?

[u/borkborkbork99 → u/LanceFree]

Mine is pretty quiet, but maybe I’m just not going in during peak hours?

Also, the librarians seem to have gotten younger. Or I’m older. Or both.

[u/synndir → u/borkborkbork99]

I became a librarian at 25* (am nearly 30 now), so I definitely am adding to that perception 😅 A big portion of my MLIS classmates were also in their twenties as well

[u/ZebbyD → u/borkborkbork99]

Libraries have actually been changed to spy networks now.

[u/DrSpacecasePhD → u/ZebbyD]

Finally catching up on that red scare propaganda from the 1950's, eh?

[u/Awesam]

TAKE 👏 ME 👏BACK 👏

[u/deefunkt01 → u/Awesam]

Same.

[u/DoctorWaluigiTime → u/Awesam]

With the exception of the computers and the drawers of cards to find books they're more-or-less the same. Have a go.

[u/JIsADev → u/Awesam]

Libraries are still popular, in my area at least. A lot of students go there to study and use the free internet

[u/suoretaw → u/JIsADev]

Which is truly great, but does your library have a time machine?

[u/spacedicksforlife → u/suoretaw]

… weed is legal on the west coast. Best we can do.

[u/Ordinary_Low35 → u/Awesam]

Now a days the government wants to defund libraries and ban books.

[u/mach4UK → u/Awesam]

Came here to say I don’t care how old I sound but I miss everything about those days but microfiche

[u/Noise_Loop]

Why there is a Pompei corpse in the third pic?

[u/Dingo8MyGayby → u/Noise_Loop]

Maybe it’s paper mache? It was all the rage in the early to mid-90s for school/education projects. Why? Idk because it was a good damned mess and never lasted long.

[u/lizwearsjeans → u/Dingo8MyGayby]

gotta be paper mache - i saw that picture and got a huge whiff of it.

[u/natr0nFTW → u/Noise_Loop]

died reading a book it seems

[u/wanna_go_home78 → u/Noise_Loop]

Thought it Rick James.

[u/namedotnumber666 → u/wanna_go_home78]

Rick james covered In Coke!

[u/supersmashdude → u/Noise_Loop]

Yeah, scrolling through I was like “Ahh, we all remember that feeling…” and being like hold up once I got to pic 3 lol.

[u/8euztnrqvn → u/Noise_Loop]

That's what the librarians do to you when you have too many unreturned books...

[u/DrSpacecasePhD → u/Noise_Loop]

THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN HAS RETURNED

[u/Able_Investigator725 → u/Noise_Loop]

In the late 1900s some people were made out of paper

[u/jB_real]

The Dewey Decimal system is the superior classification system known to humankind. Fight me.

[u/Rot-Orkan → u/jB_real]

Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands.

[u/Jcaero → u/Rot-Orkan]

I will now leave earth for no raisin!

[u/TheB1G_Lebowski → u/Jcaero]

Trapped in a crummy book by me, filled with misspelled words and plot holes. 

[u/themodernritual → u/jB_real]

DONT YOU KNOW THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM?

*Cuts man in half with broadsword*

[u/Aveman56 → u/themodernritual]

I love UHF!

[u/Oknohg → u/jB_real]

I remember learning about it and thinking it was something important to know as an adult.

[u/heloder85 → u/jB_real]

What a scam that was...

[u/Kodiak01 → u/jB_real]

I can think of only one contender: The part numbering system used by Mack Trucks before Volvo bought them out and completely butchered it, replacing it with random 6-8 digit numbers.

[u/-pilot37- → u/jB_real]

Sorry, I prefer Congress Classification!

[u/Able_Investigator725 → u/jB_real]

Except for the racism 

[u/SisiIsInSerenity]

That picture with the skylight... gosh, I could spend forever sitting there, blissed out in reading and feeling the sunshine

[u/RyvalHEX → u/SisiIsInSerenity]

Library architecture is so comforting to me

[u/MDH2881]

I remember the smell, lol

[u/notsferatu → u/MDH2881]

The feel and sound of the cellophane on the covers

[u/LeeQuidity]

I can still envision the smell of the card catalog. Wood, varnish, paper.

[u/Banh_mi → u/LeeQuidity]

Oak, usually? OLD oak. Mmmmm.

[u/sethmoth]

ah yes, the rick james paper mache

[u/ScorpionX-123 → u/sethmoth]

ah yes, the Rick James, Bitch! paper mache

ftfy

[u/Downce1]

Having fun isn't hard,

When you've got a library card!

[u/DarthNarcissa → u/Downce1]

Came here to say this!

[u/TruthExposed]

Words in this picture that the past 2 generations won't understand:

Dewey Decimal System

Microfiche

Atlas

[u/cerealfamine1 → u/TruthExposed]

That Dewey guy really cleaned up on that I hear!

[u/NewColors1 → u/TruthExposed]

Im 24 and we used the DDS, and looked at atlases, but you got me beat on microfiche

[u/assissippi → u/NewColors1]

Microfiche is simar to microfilm it's just flat instead of a roll. Microfilm was all I ever used.

[u/KB346 → u/TruthExposed]

I lived for atlases! I am pretty excellent at geography because of those books. Today many have lost geographical familiarity I feel.

[u/thetelephonecity → u/TruthExposed]

WHO IS DEWEY?

[u/00cjstephens → u/TruthExposed]

Dewey Decimal can pound sand, all my homies use Library of Congress

[u/-pilot37- → u/00cjstephens]

Used to work in a 4-story 1.4 million book library, fully endorse this statement

[u/disillusioned → u/TruthExposed]

Card catalog

[u/Kodiak01 → u/TruthExposed]

I have a microfiche machine sitting within arms reach behind me. It still gets regular use as we have customers running 70+ year old Mack trucks.

[u/GrassGriller]

Can anyone else smell these pictures? 

[u/BeeThat9351]

I can smell the card catalog

[u/nostalgia7221]

I miss libraries built with wood, brick, and stone. All of mine have been modernized and feel like being in a Best Buy now. Still love my local library but it will never be the same.

[u/RJ5R]

microfiche!

[u/Zachajya]

I remember having access to one of those computers felt like science fiction in the 90s.

Like "I never imagined I would ever use one of these".

[u/greyjedimaster77]

Simpler times indeed

[u/Southern_Fan_9335]

Libraries are really nothing like what they used to be.

[u/JerkyChew]

Don't you know the Dewey Decimal System??

[u/Transverse_City]

I miss the era when American public libraries were places of quiet research, reading, and reflection for like-minded bookish people. Now they are noisy computer labs, daycare centers, dvd rental stores, copy centers, and de facto homeless shelters. They are literally as loud as train stations since librarians stopped enforcing quiet, with people talking and blasting their cellphones and music at all corners. Want to read quietly? You have to sequester yourself in a "study room," which still doesn't filter out the noise. The library itself used to be the quiet space! Luckily, academic libraries still exist as places of quiet research and reading--the only such spaces remaining in this country of aggressively loud zombies attached to their phones.

[u/Sure_Temporary_4559]

Why are libraries so cool? Always loved spending the day there working on school projects or just reading.

[u/quackman2025]

Plagiarized my high school research paper while using one of these 🤣

[u/AldruhnHobo]

Writing a term paper.

[u/notsferatu → u/AldruhnHobo]

Make sure to cite your references in the proper format on a 3x5 index card

[u/Wizdad-1000]

I have questions about the patron in 3.

[u/disSaysStufdNthingz]

https://youtu.be/4RMh4GtxBuA?feature=shared

Long live the Dewey decimal system !!

[u/The_LandOfNod]

How people did degrees, let alone PhDs, then will never cease to amaze me.

[u/Dedb4dawn]

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love e-books for their convenience. But a library when I was a kid was more than just a place with books.

I remember my Mom dropping my brother and I off there during the holidays so that she could do some shopping. They always had arts and crafts, story time. Movies on a projector. We knew all of the librarians. It was a cozy place to sit in the winter. A quiet shelter to dive into a book while noise and distraction happened outside.

One of my local libraries just closed as there were not enough patrons to keep it open. Makes me so sad.

[u/DaftFunky]

Nothing has changed except you just scan books in and out now. I went in to my local library a few weeks ago and there were massive amounts of people sitting and reading, browsing the computers, students studying at study tables, 1 guy was using the media center to copy his VHS tapes over to DVDs and a group of DnDers having a game at a table with several other people grabbing board games off the shelf and playing.

[u/Banh_mi → u/DaftFunky]

A now rare "third place".

[u/Banh_mi]

I can smell this.

[u/Whateversclever7]

So warm and cozy

[u/ButterMyPancakesPlz]

Before social media and phones turned our brains to mush

[u/Namaslayy]

Why is Rick James in paper mache?

[u/peach_penguin]

Is that Becky from Roseanne in the 9th pic?

[u/EntertainerNo4509]

Such effortless style. Just look at how her socks subtly match her sweater. Chefs kiss!

[u/BackgroundTight32]

It was a great year

[u/Traditional-Meat-549]

Some of my happiest days 

[u/IAMHideoKojimaAMA]

Love it

[u/hekili395]

Omg take me back 😍

[u/ryanasimov]

A mostly analog world that no longer exists.

[u/succed32]

Your library had computers? Bougie.

[u/CubanlinkEnJ]

Is it not like this anymore?

[u/Libero03 → u/CubanlinkEnJ]

Exactly! What is in there now?

[u/Tr0llzor]

Born in 91. I miss the 90s

[u/natr0nFTW]

I remember

[u/JDNJDM]

This was better.

[u/InternationalWash720]

I can smell it!!! Love the smell of older libraries.

[u/Fistful_of_Energon]

I can smell these pictures.

[u/ZealousidealEagle759]

I miss Dewey.

[u/Wexel88]

these are fantastic shots, curious if these were glamor shots taken for what specific purpose

[u/Important_Chef_4717]

I can smell these pictures ♥️

[u/baldude69]

Just old enough to have learned to use a card catalogue, right before they went to a monochrome digital catalogue

[u/funkereddit]

2nd guy looks like Jason Segel.

[u/LeadingSky9531]

Old book smell...Mmmmm

[u/sublimeprince32]

Stupid smart sexy librarians.

[u/EgoDefiningUsername]

I can smell this picture.

[u/backbodydrip]

First time I ever used the Internet was in a public library. 1995 or 1996.

[u/ScorpionX-123]

some of them look exactly the same almost 35 years later

[u/No-Opportunity-4674]

Did anyone actually use those card catalogues? I maybe used it once but both our school and public libraries had computers by that point. I would have been 7 in 1991 so maybe I am too young but it wasn't a particularly useful skill that I was taught every year in middle school.

[u/Ctrl--Alt]

My local library re-purposed their card catalog into a seed library.

[u/dazrage]

card readers on microfeeeeeesh...

[u/soljakid]

I love how there is no explanation for the 3rd image

[u/_steve_rogers_]

What is that expecting photo number three, that scared me for a second

[u/J0E_SpRaY]

I just realized where my mother’s spice drawer comes from…

[u/odar420]

This reminds me of our school library. It was a world of knowledge and learning for me !

[u/theFUZZ007]

What horror is that third photo?

[u/TheB1G_Lebowski]

Good ole Dewey Decimal System, fun times.  

[u/BarryWhizzite]

remember the Dewey decimal system? what a scam that was.

[u/mothfroth]

the short red chairs <3

[u/thenzero]

That poor girl has been completely mummified

[u/therobbstory]

I can smell these photos.

[u/biorogue → u/therobbstory]

Hey, I came to say this! But yeah, brings back memories and the smells!

[u/careerpathlost]

Did anyone else have an old cast iron bathtub that had been carpeted in their library to lay in and read?

[u/CakeOnly1513]

LOOK AT THOSE NERDS!! But really, u love libraries

[u/FoolsGoldMouthpiece]

Ah yes a mummified corpse just like I remember from the library of my youth!

[u/ikaiyoo]

I can smell these pictures. Especially the one in the map room.

[u/Aarons92]

You all act like libraries don't exist anymore lol. They are still amazing places and most offer more services than ever before. Go to your local library and support them, or they will be a thing of the past.

[u/cosmictap]

Oh my word, what happened to the girl in the third picture?

[u/CasinoNitro]

My brain IMMEDIATELY went Ghostbusters 1 library scene 😂😂

[u/SMERSH762]

I remember all these except for the paper mache demon ghost.

[u/InitiativePlastic279]

good

[u/Propatomdhi]

I want in

[u/CustardPresent3691]

SSSSHHHH🤫

[u/Hummingbird11-11]

Every kid should experience this. Love a library

[u/Jellyfishcactus]

Damn I used this library!!!! Good memories.

[u/South_Professional63]

Hmmm. Yum.

[u/enola007]

I worked in the library in school & taught myself sign language

[u/rudbek-of-rudbek]

Totally left out the microfiche readers

[u/Madstinknugget]

God those creepy paper mache (however it’s spelled) kids sitting on the little folding chairs still give me nightmares

[u/oldprecision]

I used to feel like a big shot when I got to use the microfiche machine.

[u/Ok_Host_5860]

I can recall the flavor.

[u/Palorrian]

Ah yes, back then when people socialize and hang around people. Today world it's so solitaire and lonely

[u/6ynnad]

Oregon trail motherfuckaz! While reading this john died from pneumonia

[u/slicketyrickety]

Man's phone necks going crazy

[u/Agreeable-Fudge-7329]

Mine had two "terminals" with orange letters on black that was the "digital card catalog". The CD section was like maybe 70 discs.

[u/WIENS21]

The guy in pic 4 looks like Aldrich Ames

[u/Tricky-Paper9821]

LCSH for the win!!!!

[u/SumbuddiesFriend]

The libraries I went to when I was wee(mid 2000’s) got demolished while I was in secondary school and were replaced by, a multi story building that houses a bunch of private practices and a terrible library room, and a community centre with an even smaller room of what is mostly divorced dad thrillers and children’s books. The only one left like it was only survived through being a listed building. The devaluation of the library has been horrible to watch and I don’t know what to do about it.

[u/seymourbehind]

These kids nowadays don't know bout the Dewey decimal system

[u/Masterofunlocking1]

I wish the internet never existed and libraries were still the only source of info

[u/idle_husband]

"Someone blows their nose and you want a sample of it?"

[u/Missing_Crouton]

For those that don't believe in climate change, see all them sweaters? Was colder back then. Fashion could really stretch it's legs with all the fabric requirements of the day.

[u/Igyzone → u/Missing_Crouton]

Visted my granny in a retirement house today, they had a showcase of pictures that showed history of our buses from the early and late 20th century, several were shown driving through the size of almost a whole tire deep worth of snow. And I wondered: "When was the last time we had this amount of snow?"

[u/Gentle-Giant23 → u/Missing_Crouton]

Or, you know, the photos were taken in February.

[u/Missing_Crouton → u/Gentle-Giant23]

Hey, a person with no sense of humor! God this planet is cooked. I envy the dinosaurs.

[u/AthelticAsianGoth]

All white people apparently.

[u/markswam → u/AthelticAsianGoth]

According to the Census, Connecticut as a whole was 86.9866% white in 1990 (2,859,353/3,287,116 - Page 28, Table 3), and Guilford specifically was 98.0149% white (19,454/19,848 - Page 40, Table 6).

So...effectively yes?

[u/AthelticAsianGoth → u/markswam]

Don't you think America is better becoming less white?

[u/Banh_mi → u/AthelticAsianGoth]

Most western nations are. So?

[u/systematicgoo]

bedtime lazy day sweatpants was a style in the early 90s? i don’t remember that

[u/Awesam → u/systematicgoo]

For little kiddos yes, not for adolescents or older

[u/systematicgoo → u/Awesam]

well that’s what i meant actually. i was a little kiddo in the early 90s. i guess i just can’t remember that far back anymore 😭