All my life, visits to the library were relatively transactional. I picked out books as a kid then, later, CDs as teenager and took them home to obsess over for a finite period. I returned them and started the process over again. Until one day, I stopped.

As a freelancer, I’ve tended in recent years to think of the library as a place I can take my laptop and do what I do at home, just with air-conditioning and more people around to psyche myself into productivity.

I knew there was more to it, I just never really found myself in need of all I could find and do at the library. I suppose that might be a sign of luck or privilege; the “more” available at libraries comprises a range of support. Help navigating complex technology or forms in a language you don’t speak. Face time with a helpful social worker. All manner of problems are solved in our city libraries.

Credit: Joe Armao

I don’t always open the email newsletters from Yarra Libraries, but when they sent one with the subject........

© The Sydney Morning Herald