by Melodie Rae Storey
If your TBR (To Be Read) list includes Covenant of Water and Demon Copperhead, two recent books that run over 600 pages, then I heartily congratulate you because they are indeed masterpieces and your life will be richer for it. But if perhaps you have less time on your hands and still want a little cultured richness in your life, then please let me introduce you to… a magazine.
For the young ones out there, magazines are a print publication that contains articles and illustrations and comes out monthly or weekly to entertain and inform. It’s kind of like if you printed out a version of your favourite TikToker. I know, crazy, but it works.
Even the act of reading the magazines is a sensory dream. The tactile act of flicking through a magazine is a satisfaction you mustn’t deny yourself. Doomscrolling on the phone doesn’t come anywhere close.
Although maybe the information isn’t quite as current as your phone, magazines are known to be much more timely than books. Because of their monthly or sometimes even weekly (looking at you New Yorker) publication schedule, information is current, articles are fresh and satire is biting (seriously, have you checked out the New Yorker?). They are a great visual medium with their own quintessential symbols — think of the yellow border of the National Geographic cover or that iconic little maple leaf sneakily acting as an apostrophe in Maclean’s. Besides the classics, there are many new modern, diverse titles too such as Bust, SAY or Parabola.
Magazines can also be super niche which is exciting for those who are passionate about their interests whether they be motorcycles, interior design, LGBTQ joy, climbing or B.C. history, and the list goes on and on. Our community is full of people who are zealous about their magazines. Indeed, at the library we carry 80 magazines and last year 62 of these were sponsored. What that means is that local business and community members sponsor a magazine that they love and want to share with the community by making a tax-deductible donation of the cost of a one-year subscription. In return, we promote their name on the cover.
Each March we have our annual Magazine Drive where we appeal to the community for support. If you are interested, come into the library and we can show you a list of the existing unsponsored magazines that we have in our collection (http://tinyurl.com/x4zcccze), and you pick one from the list that you’d like to sponsor. You can also call Heather at 250-352-8259 or send her an email at hdahlgrin@nelson.ca. If you’re overwhelmed by picking a title, we’ll happily accept a general donation to support our magazine collection.
If I didn’t convince you of the worthiness of print media, we do have an amazing selection of digital magazines to check out too. In fact, there are literally thousands to choose from. Or have I mentioned newspapers? We spend money on newspapers so you don’t have to. In a rural town like Nelson where newspaper subscriptions are not sold, we do the work of making sure the daily newspaper is available for you to read, all in the service of building a culture of knowledge for our community. Next time you are walking by come check out what we have to offer!
Melodie Rae Storey is adult services co-ordinator for the Nelson Public Library. Check This Out appears monthly.