I used to love libraries ..

Let me hasten to say, I still feel libraries are valuable resources in a community and I heartily support them. But I just don't get to the library any more. If I can download a book to my Kindle, why go check one out? And I buy the magazines I want, and the newspapers, so ...

I did visit local libraries when we first moved to town because our WiFi wasn't hooked up yet. So I would go to the library and use theirs most of the day in order to stay connected at work.

I grew up with the library in my home town. My mother was the acquisition person for children's books, mysteries, and non-fiction, so she would buy books then bring them home to read before shelving them. I cut my teeth on John Creasy, Agatha Christie, Mary Stewart, and Ian Fleming. I loved Nancy Drew, who wore frocks and pumps and drove a roadster. I still remember one very slim John Creasy book where the hero saves the world -- literally -- from burning up. The book was maybe 250 pages long but there was a ton of action in there. And let's not forget Leslie Charteris' The Saint (Simon Templar), Creasy's The Baron, Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn, and Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey.

Those were the books that I read growing up. I missed out on the Little House books, most of romance novels (although I loved Anya Seton and Mary Stewart's The Ivy Tree might be my favorite romance/mystery of all time). These authors obviously influenced where I am today, and I have my library to thank for that.

I wonder if children growing up today will have the same relationship to The Story. I know they won't have that relationship to a book -- holding one in the hand to read as you sit in a tree overhanging a stream (as I often did). And I wonder if The Library will continue to evolve to accommodate changing needs, becoming 'media centers' to feed the need for passive entertainment.

I'm glad I grew up when I did because I had that chance to go into a cool, shady, mysterious building run by grownups and come out with worlds in my arms. Then I ran away to escape for hours at a time as I used words to create pictures in my head. Movies? That was for special occasions, maybe once a month. TV? My parents controlled the TV and doled it out in small chunks.

But books: books were daily enjoyment for me. And I have my library to thank for that.

A Library Lover's Memories

Library Lover's Month...hmmm...so we're celebrating those that love libraries. I can go for that, especially considering I'm one of those lovers. The quiet, the brightly lit rooms, the smell - oh the smell.

When I was a kid, growing up in Phoenix, the closest library was the big one downtown on Central Avenue - the Phoenix Public Library. It was an all day adventure. Someone would volunteer their mother to drop us off and another mother would pick us up hours later.

The first time was a field trip in grade school and the place was daunting - the building was mammoth, the card catalog huge and I had no idea how to use the Dewey Decimal System. I couldn't wait to go back on my own. The dark green marble floors were shiny, the chairs tucked in nooks and crannies were plush and the librarians so learned. Most of the time I wondered around lost, but I loved it.

Along the sidewalk on the Central Avenue side, huge oranges hung ripe from thickly leafed trees. My cousin Jerry and I decided we had to have one of those oranges. We made a plan. We waited until we saw my aunt pull up to the sidewalk and as we dashed to the car, we grabbed an orange and tucked them into our book bags. Have you ever tried to eat an ornamental orange?

My first book's first library siting!

Once a month, the bookmobile library would come to the A.J Bayless shopping center which was two blocks from my house. The little trailer was jammed with books and didn't allow for more than a couple of kids in at a time. It was crowded and hot, stuffy and fragrant with the smell of books. I loved that traveling library.

In high school, the library was so lacking that trips to the Phoenix Public Library on Central Avenue were still necessary. And the attraction of the place broadened a bit. I didn't have a car but my friend Judy did - a cute powder blue mustang. Cruising Central Avenue in a mustang and stopping for fries and a shake, made going to the library to research a paper worthwhile. The guys hanging out at the library didn't hurt either. No wonder the smell of a book is so sensual!

After I was married, I worked at the army library in Germany. Getting that job thrilled me. The lady that trained me made a great many assumptions about my library knowledge. Little did she know I still didn't understand the Dewey Decimal System. But I didn't care. I roamed around the tiny library and breathed deep. Then the second hour came along. Apologies to all the librarians I greatly admire, but this was one of my most boring jobs. I'm not sure what it says for G.I's, but the place didn't get much traffic. I did get to do a lot of my own reading.

Not having kids at home anymore, I'm not sure how often they get to the library.So much research and reading is done on the Internet now. And I'm not knocking it. I spend a great deal of time on the Internet. There are advantages. But you miss so many things - the librarians, the Dewey Decimal System, the boys and especially the smell. 

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