Libraries have it all

I think Gilbert must like libraries. She mentions them a few times in her section about Italy, specifically saying that she visits the library before she sees any churches or museums in Rome. What I liked best though was the description she gave of her mother who "had taught herself to swim as an adolescent alone in a cold Minnesota lake, with a book she'd borrowed from the local library entitled How to Swim." People used to know to go to the library to find out anything. Now, of course, they just go to the internet, where I easily found a website called Learn to Swim. I don't guess I really recommend learning to swim on one's own in any case, but it seems that a book is a better, easier thing to take to a lake than a computer.

I recently found out that some school districts are allowing students to take Physical Education classes online due to budget cuts. This just seems wrong. It certainly leads me to believe that education requirements, at least in some schools, are simply boxes to check off, rather than part of a holistic educational experience.