Libraries are wonderful places. I have always enjoyed spending time in a library. I was fortunate that when I was a child my mom would take my brother, sister and I to the library often. I still remember many of the books that I got from the library as a kid. I spent a lot of time at our school libraries. It was there that I learned how to be a detective and take fingerprints. It was at my high school library that I discovered Jim Kjelgard and the Big Red books (Red was a red Irish setter). Gordon Korman’s Bruno and Boots series was hilarious. I checked out many Hardy boys books that I didn’t own.
In high school, the library also became a nice quiet place to study and do homework. I would find a table or big desk and spread all my stuff out on the surface.
In college the library was a source of calm and quiet in the midst of the raging storm that was dorm life. I used the library to study and do homework, but also to sit in the comfortable chairs and relax and read or even to take a nap. In my last years of college I’d go to the library first thing in the morning and claim my study carrel. I’d leave something there all day to hold my spot while I was in class and having meals.
The first town I lived in after getting married didn’t have a library. After that we lived in Kazakhstan for a year teaching English. The library at the US Embassy was a blessing for the many times that we craved English books or films.
When we returned to the US we lived in a small town in Illinois that had a nice library. It was only a couple of blocks from our house. It was a nice walk to get there. A couple of moves later and we were again less than two blocks from the small town library. That was when we started having kids. It was great having a library so close, even though more than half of the books were in French.
When we moved to Cedar Rapids, IA, part of our home choice was made based on how close we were to the large downtown library. That was April 2008. Two months later, a massive flood hit the city, including the downtown library. For us, part of the sad thing about the destruction of the downtown area was that the library’s temporary home was established in a mall at one of the far edges of town.
We frequented the library often in Cedar Rapids and it was nice to see how they recovered from such devastation. The new downtown library is a wonderful place.
We’re back in a small town, and for a small town, Williamsburg has an amazing library. I’m proud to have been asked to be a board member.
Like everything else, libraries have changed over the years. I still remember the public library where I grew up and all the materials were books. Card catalogs were used to find what you were looking for. Now computers do so much of the work and provide much better tools to index and search for the books that we want to find.
Our library has a nice collection of books for all ages. We have computers for working and playing. There’s a great seating area with a nice big fireplace. There’s a nice collection of movies to borrow as well. A great service that libraries provide is the inter-library loan program. If you’re looking for a book and the library doesn’t have it, they’ll get it from another library. The borrowing time might be a little less and you might not be able to renew it as easily, but it still beats not having the book.
Everyone in my family loves to read. We go through so many books each year. There is just no way that we would buy that many books. Libraries are great places where you can get a book without buying it. You do have to give it back in some number of weeks. If you want to read it again next year, or at some other future time, you can just check it out again!
Libraries are wonderful places also because you can browse and try things without a big commitment. You can test drive a book and learn about all kinds of great new things. If you don’t like it, return it. If you like it, you can check it out as often as it’s available.
Libraries are great places. I hope you think so too. Get out this week and visit your local library. I’m sure that you’ll be glad you did.