The trouble with libraries (a whine)

I love the library. I have loved them since I discovered them at age 6. Imagine -- thousands of books to read and every one of them FREE!!

But libraries have changed since I was a child. At least, our local libraries have. Instead of focusing on books, they now sacrifice half or more of their space to non-book media. I guess I can understand that -- I don't mind that CDs and DVDs are available to check out and certainly, making computers available to people who couldn't otherwise afford them is a good thing. But toys? And do the computers and toys have to be more prominent than the books?

This wouldn't matter so much, if it was just me - but it's been a constant source of frustration in trying to take Jack to the library. When we go to a book store, Jack is riveted by the books. He picks up one book after another and falls headfirst into the stories.

At the library, though, there is so much competition for his attention that the books gets almost no attention. I have finally convinced him that the computers are a waste of time at the library because he has a computer at home. But the toys, well, he doesn't have *those* toys. And they're not bad toys, even.

But there I am, stuck in the children's section of the library for hours -- I can't get to the adult section to look at books I might like because I can't (and don't want to) leave him unattended and tearing him away isn't working. Getting 10 books to take home takes me 10 minutes. Getting Jack out of the toys takes another hour and a half of boredom.

I can't decide whether to just give up and go the the library alone and take him only to book stores or whether to try dragging him into the adult stacks first, so I can have something to read while he plays.

It would be so nice if libraries were set up for readers, like they used to be.