I 🧡 my library
3 October 2025
I've been wanting to write a post about the library pretty much since I started conceiving the idea of this blog. You may consider this officially a promotional library post, because at this point I've become a hardcore library advocate.
So here's the thing about libraries, in my experience. You know they are there as a public service, but people and governments tend to take them for granted and not really talk about them, promote them or use them. So you grow up kind of not thinking about libraries, not even considering them as a viable option for things like education, work, hobbies, personal growth, entertainmemt or even self-promotion. We kind of subconsciously think about libraries as collections of outdated books that "probably aren't what we're looking for anyway"; but libraries are much, much more than that, and the more I delve into them the more I realize they're extremely, extremely important. They're the cultural heart of a community.
I hope you can excuse me doing a bit of exposition about my own life, just to serve as context, but also as part of this reflection about how my decision to return to the library has helped me.
I have a hard time remembering my childhood (because it was many years ago and I was a child and because my memory is terrible, mostly), but I still remember my hometown library, and the library card I got when I was three. It was my very first time being held responsible for an ID card that I needed to keep safe and make sure to bring with me. It made me feel so adult, like a researcher on official business. And honestly, in most senses of the word, I was. I was absolutely fascinated with the concept: I could just take anything I wanted and bring it home with me, for free! My parents would even let me wander off on my own and choose whatever, and there was SO much to choose from. It was a magical land. What I can't remember though, was the day I stopped visiting the library. It's a little sad to think that one day I went there without knowing it would be my last visit for many, many years. I have a vague notion of returning to my hometown library during the pandemic to renew my card and then leaving again, but I do not remember ever checking anything out from there. I wonder why I stopped going. I guess as I became a teenager and got into fandom culture, the internet seemed so vast and interesting (and all my blorbos and friends were there) that I just forgot about books and about the library for years. It just seemed like what me and my friends were creating was more interesting than whatever I could find elsewhere.
To be honest, it continued to be like that for pretty much all of high school. I was a quiet kid whose comfy place was the internet, so my ideal, perfect spot was always my room and my computer. No reason to go elsewhere.
It was Madrid, the bustling capital city, that finally got me moving out of my room and into the world when I started uni. I was completely on my own in the place that had everything. Of course, Madrid was so full of everything that libraries were the least of my interests; those first years of university, I dumped SO much of my money on conventions and gift shops and restaurants and musicals, and on boba tea and ramen, all those things I saw as wonderfully exotic. I did visit the faculty's library to study, and even picked up some fiction to read from there, but I wasn't taking full advantage of the service at all. To be fair, I could say that during this time I was learning on the field, achieving personal growth by simply engaging in the experience of new things. I could soon recognize them as excess, though.
When the pandemic hit, I had to leave the city and... I guess I hadn't really processed my pandemic depression from this angle before, but my journey of discovery had been cut short. During my last year of uni, I was forced back in my little town, in my little room, with my computer, when I still had so much left to do and see in Madrid, and no guarantee that I would ever return to the city once my thesis was done. I struggled a lot with finishing that one. So when the lockdown was done, I had to ask my parents to help me go back, to live in my own apartment this time and not at the student residence (where, let's be honest, I was coddled a little) and to promise them I'd find a job. I have remained living unemployed in Madrid for the last four years, and though I do have hopes that this might change soon, this time has shaped me into a very money-anxious person. In addition, all that stuff I saw as new and exciting has uh... gotten a little old for me. I was once again craving new experiences, and this time I wanted to find things I really, really wanted to get involved with but never got the chance to while I was living with my parents.
There is a racetrack in Madrid, so I got into horse racing, and because I was interested in knowing more, I got involved with some of the folks there, including, of course, the manager of the racetrack's library! (imagine an entire library just for horses, how cool is that?) Visiting the library allowed me to befriend other people at the racetrack, which to this day means I get tickets to the races for free, and a bit of monetary compensation for helping out at the horse auction every year, as well as some art commissions I got out of it. I also did a course on horse-assisted therapy, for which I am insanely grateful to my parents, because it got me reacquainted with horses in a very important way.
Finding an actual job wasn't proving so easy, though, and opportunities for my kind of CV were scarce, so I finally agreed with my parents that I would switch my focus to studying for a government administration position, which would mean a stable income for life. I am a lot better at studying than at talking to people, anyway. However, I soon realized that my own room wasn't the best place to study: I had gotten too used to my room being a place of rest and leisure. That's when I signed up for Madrid's library card (which allows me access to every library in the community) in the hopes of pushing myself to have better study habits. It unfortunately didn't stick much; my motivation and ability to organize still weren't the best.
Then, uuh... a hilarious chain of events ensued.
It's funny to think about, but life is funny like that sometimes; apparently ninja turtles were the necessary push for my personal growth. In all fairness it wasn't only turtles, it had to be a combination of events happening by chance, but turtles and the big Twitter exodus were the main agents. I was motivated to write and do fanart again, which led to my dear friends begging me to come back to social media, which led to me choosing Tumblr as my new starting place. It turns out I ended up really enjoying Tumblr, now that I had no attachments left to Twitter; the general Tumblr philosophy aligned a lot more with my own... and Tumblr is really, really passionate about libraries.
We're getting closer to the present day now. It might seem silly, but the amount of library enthusiasm and endorsement coming from Tumblr made me realize libraries were a readily available service and an option for me, and, I'm gonna be honest, it sparked my interest again about all the cool things I could find there as a very curious adult. Plus, I already knew my house was not a good study space for me. I need to dress up every morning, and get ready, and walk somewhere else for my brain to know it's study time. So this summer, I'm talking June 2025, I made it my explicit goal to go to the library every single day to study.
It's tough to explain with words, but I cannot stress enough how beneficial this was for my study and work habits, for my health (both mental and physical), for my overactive mind AND for my pocket, especially during summer. Summers are merciless in Madrid, it's like walking out into an oven every day, and I don't have AC at home, nor would I be able to pay for it. When I tell you the library was an oasis I am making an understatement. The library has allowed me to survive this summer. Free AC, free wifi, all the time and resources in the world, and a suitable environment for me to work and study without distractions were the difference between being a functional person and being a sad melty blob on the ground. It was in the library that I made all my art pieces this summer. It was in the library that I designed and coded this very site. And even though my objective was just to go there and study, I ended up picking up books and DVDs too. I am writing a steampunk comic, so when I made the happy discovery that my library had a huge selection of fantasy graphic novels, I started grabbing some to study them. I am a huge fan of animation, and to my delight, my library has dozens of animation movies I had never watched or even heard about; many of them made in Spain! DVDs are also incredibly nostalgic and exciting to me, because most of them include extra features and behind-the-scenes footage that I don't get with digital downloads. Having a return date for the books means I am actually motivated to read them (I am trying to get better at that; many of the books and comics I own still remain unread and it's a little sad). As a result, I am spending a lot less time on my phone. Especially during bedtime, I am training myself to read a little before bed instead of looking at social media.
BUT, as an excited old-timey TV host would say, THAT'S NOT ALL! Libraries are not just book-lending places, nonono. As soon as you walk into a library, you are going to see big announcement boards everywhere, and brochures. When you log onto the library's wifi network, you will be automatically redirected to Madrid Community's library hub, which is also connected to other government sites. Every single month there are a dozen cultural events happening in your neighborhood, and you can attend them for free and are missing them right now, simply because you don't go to the library and/or peruse your townhouse's website. This summer, as well as studying and working, I attended four movie showings, four live theatrical and circus productions, live orchestra, photography showcases and a museum visit completely for free, and it has sparked a wonderfully human side of me that I hadn't even realized had faded into the background a little since I was a child. It has made me truly fall in love with this city and what it has to offer, much like when I first arrived here and was trying out all of those new things. Now that summer has ended and schools and businesses are getting back on track, so too have Madrid libraries started offering an insane number of conferences about a lot of specific topics, self-help workshops, hobby workshops, book and comic clubs, writing clubs, employment workshops, threatre/drama clubs, gym and yoga and life skills such as home repair! All completely free to attend! Library card users also get discounts at certain theatres and showcases in the city, so that's also super cool. It truly makes me wish there were two of me so I could attend everything. Just the other day, I was at a conference about spanish architecture hosted by a university professor. I don't know anything about architecture, but I came out of there with incredible new appreciation for it, and how it relates to both art and functionality.
I want to make a final and extra special mention to Madrid's Regional Library. It's not my neighborhood library, I don't go there that much (it's a bit far by metro too), but since I discovered it, I knew it was special. It 100% feels like a special occasion when I visit. The Regional Library is special because its main purpose is document conservation. This means you can't take anything home with you, and you can't bring anything in (such as your laptop or study materials, for example). This library, however, has an insane collection of historical documents that you get to read for free (and are allowed to print B&W copies of!). This not only applies to old books, but to everything: movies, music, magazines and newspapers, posters, photographs, promotional material, even objects and instruments sometimes. At the Regional Library, they also organize interesting conferences by revered experts, guided city tours, and historical exhibits. Recently I've been getting increasingly interested in learning more about spanish traditions, especially since making new foreign friends; it's amazing how seeing the wonder and interest in people from other countries can spark your own. I am also interested in seeing images of Spain in the nineteenth century (you know, for my steampunk comic). Personally I'm not a huge history nerd, I've never been, really; but I do love animals (especially horses), so I've started gathering info about spanish riding and horsekeeping traditions, as well as bullfighting traditions, which are truly Spain's mark of identity. Guess where the most complete and informative documents on these topics are available to me? Exactly; they're at Madrid's Regional Library. I swear, the video footage they have there is absolutely excellent, you can't find it anywhere else. They're true genuine treasures. The next time I visit, I really wanna go there and ask for posters of horse spectacles that I can print copies of.
To anyone reading this: please, give your local library a chance. Libraries are bastions of culture and dedication in a world that keeps trying to pull people apart and make them dependent on soulless commercial slop. You don't need to spend a cent to participate in your community or to get the specific information you are seeking, or for entertainment, or to work on your mental health, no matter how much companies make it seem like you do. You can fall in love with your neighborhood and your city in ways you never thought you would. Personally, I have found my second home in the library, and I truly don't want to go back.
