Drat: The Perils of Literacy

I live in a literate city. By some accounts, possibly one of the most literate cities in America. Fellow Eugeneans check out more books per capita from our library than those in any other city in the U.S. Our library moves over 10,000 items a day, for a population of about 130,000 people. So when a friend recommends a new book, like The Help, I look it up in the library catalog and notice all of the copies are checked out. No problem, I go to put it on reserve. Except that 213 other people are in the queue ahead of me! I guess that's the price you pay for having a terrific library and a literarily inclined populace! I'm sure I'll get to read it someday...