Booking Through Thursday: Libraries

Inspired by Booksplease:

Whether you usually read off of your own book pile or from the library shelves NOW, chances are you started off with trips to the library. (There’s no way my parents could otherwise have kept up with my book habit when I was 10.) So . . . What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?

The house I grew up in was a library all of its own. My father collected books right and left and my mother added to them. The shelves housed books of just about every kind. Is it any wonder then that I felt right at home in the school and public libraries? I most remember the weekly family visits to Belle Coolidge Library. The library was nestled in among store front shops and had a huge children's section (at least to this child's eyes). I loved to sit on the floor in front of the shelves looking at books, trying to decide which I would bring home with me. Others I read right on the spot. As I got older, you were more likely to find me at the paperback rack in the adult section, stacking up books to take home one right after the other.

The library held a summer program every year, encouraging children to read. There were all sorts of fun activities, including magic shows, visiting animals, book readings, and crafts. Every time a child read a book, their name was written on construction paper shaped like a fish, bat, heart, star or whatever the theme was that summer and placed high up on the wall of the library. I strove to be the most prolific reader each summer and while I may not have been the "winner" in the end, I always was among the top readers. On the final day of the summer reading program prizes would be given out, ice cream and popsicles served, and we would all celebrate our success.

As a young child in elementary school my favorite time of the week was library time. My class would file into the cozy school library and gather around the librarian who would read us a story. I was introduced to Beverly Cleary this way, and I would eventually go on to read as many of her books as I could get my hands on. It was there that I learned about the Dewey Decimal System and was introduced to new books and authors that I was encouraged to explore. The school librarian did not have the best reputation among the students. She was on the mean side and did not tolerate much. I adored her, however, and, while waiting for my mother who worked at the school as she finished up after hours, I often passed the time helping shelve and reorder books.

I would like to tell you I met my husband at the university library, but that wouldn't be true. Not really. We both worked in the university library, however. He was assigned to the reference section while I worked at the circulation desk. I wish now we had done cute things such as slip love notes inside a neglected book of poetry, but, alas, we weren't quite as romantic as that. We were more interested in exploring the computer lab, my then-boyfriend-now-husband teaching me how to use the internet. Years later I would make him proud by starting this blog.

Libraries have served me well over the years. They were my home away from home, an adventure to look forward to, and places full of wonderful memories created by not only the books that filled the shelves, but also the the people I met along the way.