I'd like some advice from the community. As readers of this paper know, the Douglas Public Library District recently purchased the old Safeway building at 100 Wilcox in Castle Rock. We are now in the process of soliciting proposals from a few choice architects. By the end of next year, we intend to move all library operations currently run out of the Philip S. Miller Library and its annex into the new location.

I once wandered into a big gathering of people in the Southwest -- a sort of outdoor philosophy conference. At one point, a man with a flowing beard proclaimed, "In groups, people are stupid. Those of you who would like to discuss this further, meet me by the pool in an hour."

That struck me as pretty funny. If being in groups made you stupid, why get together to talk about it?

Last week, for the first time in some 20 years, I went to my place of work, and it was NOT a library. It was a very odd feeling. It all started back when we were doing the library's 2001 budget. It had become very obvious that our business operations, ably led by Karen Hudson, were too small. We now have an annual budget of some $10.2 million - more than two people crammed into one office were really able to stay on top of.

Last week, I talked about my analysis of my computer needs. I confess that I had an ulterior motive. Apple has just come out with a new operating system, called OS X (oh-ess-ten). I was trying to figure out if, or when, I should make the move.

I've made the platform move five times now. My first computer used the CP/M operating system. My next machine used MS-DOS. Then, at work, I used Windows, which I hated. Then I used a program called GeoWorks, with its own operating system. Finally, I jumped onto the Apple Macintosh.