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The Namazu and the Greatest Gift

I came across this ridiculous looking videogame tie-in children's picture book while looking for the release date of this ridiculous looking videogame tie-in remix album several weeks ago and thought "I really really want to read this book but I will read it exactly once and then own it forever," and with a heavy sigh of responsibility "I guess I'll pass..."

Then I remembered that libraries exist! It seemed like a longshot that this ridiculous looking videogame tie-in children's picture book would be at my local library but it was quick and easy for me to find out thanks to Library Extension.

A quick sidequest about library extension...

Libraries are awesome. They have books and movies and games and a whole host of other cool stuff you may not have known libraries carry. They're also incredibly important community spaces. I could (and just might) write an entire post about libraries but right now I want to focus on Library Extension. This free, dead-simple browser extension has saved me hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars. And not in the bullshit Honey way (remember Honey?) but in an I-want-this-but-not-enough-to-buy-it-oh-wait-libraries-exist kind of way. All this little extension does is run on most major websites that sell books and automatically tells you if the book you're looking at is available at any libraries you are a member of. Thinking about buying a book you'll probably only read once if you ever read it at all? BAM! Sidebar widget tells you your local library has it. I knew I was unlikely to read this ridiculous looking videogame tie-in children's picture book very often so I found it on Lex Corp Amazon dot com, Library Extension did its thing and confirmed that none of the libraries I am a member of carry this book. Damn it!

Then I remembered interlibrary loans exist! I didn't need my library to coincidentally have a copy. I needed some library somewhere to coincidentally have a copy.

A quick sidequest about interlibrary loans...

Libraries are awesome. They have books and movies and games and a whole host of other cool stuff you may not have known libraries carry. They're also incredibly important community spaces. I could (and just might) write an entire post about libraries but right now I want to focus on interlibrary loans. As buildings that exist in three dimensional space there is a limit to the number of books any individual library can carry, but many individual libraries can form a Voltron-esque library system that is greater than the sum of it's parts. And my library Voltron had exactly one copy of this riculous looking videogame tie-in children's picture book! A short checkout process later and I would have the book at my local branch, available to read. In approximately three weeks.

Back to the main story quest for this ridiculous looking videogame tie-in children's picture book...

I forgot almost immediately that I had requested the book. I didn't need to remember because the library will contact me when a book I put on hold is available, but I forgot as in I forgot to look forward to it. Then I received this email last night:

Your hold(s) will be available for pick-up tomorrow.

ILL - FINAL FANTASY XIV PICTURE BOOK - BOOK Collection: Interlibrary Loan

Thank you

Oh, no! Thank you.

It is at this point I should probably mention that my best friend and I have put a low-four-digit number of hours into Final Fantasy XIV in just the few years since we started playing it. They have the encyclopedias (I, II, and III), and cookbook. I have two "Such caffination!" mugs. And we have matching Hildibrand and Nashu vinyl stickers on our laptops. So we were more than a little excited to read this ridiculous looking videogame tie-in children's picture book. It is a very short book so we stood and read it in the library. We giggled our way through and aww'd at the adorable "the real magic is the friends we made along the way" ending. The entire experience was maybe ten minutes, and I returned the book without it ever leaving the building.

It was a nice experience made possible by libraries. It was a nice experience that didn't require buying anything. It was a nice experience that can't eventually turn into keeping the book out of guilt, lest I forget the memory. It was a nice experience that someone else can also have because the book can be read by lots of other people instead of sitting on my shelf or in a box. Nice things are nice. Libraries are nice things.

Get as many library cards as you can. Use Library Extension.

Have a nice experience.



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