I remember visiting libraries since I was very young. I am not sure exactly how old I was the first time I visited a library, but I do remember that I was able to check out a Curious George book. We lived in Clifton then and heading to the library meant that my mother packed all three of us, myself, my brother and my sister in the car. No small feat, but my mother was and is a reader. She instilled a love of reading in me that still remains and I am grateful!
In 1966 we moved to the little town of Little Falls, a couple of miles down Route 46 from where we had lived in Clifton. I was 7 at the time and old enough to walk the two blocks to the public library on Warren Street. I loved that old library. While I was searching around the internet this evening I found the picture above and boy did it bring back memories. I remember having my library card, with the little metal plate on it. I remember walking up the stairs into the main door of the library and then walking down the stairs to the children's section.
Not long after we moved into town, the library was torn down to make room for a bigger building that could hold more books. Imagine, more books!
I remember coming into my own as a reader the summer between 4th and 5th grade. That was the summer of '68. I remember reading book, after book, after book. I remember the chart with all our names on it and adding a star each time I finished a book. I had lots of stars!
I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. I also read The Boxcar Children and a few of the Hardy Boys Mysteries. I remember sitting in one of the arm chairs in the livingroom and reading for hours. That was the year the From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was released and I devoured that book. Dreaming that I, too, would one day run away and hide in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I still read that novel aloud to my students.
The children's section of the library hasn't changed much since that time. Mark and I visited the library in Little Falls just two years ago and it all felt so familiar to me. I found this picture online tonight and I thought, yup, that's where I remember falling in love with Ned and solving the great mysteries of the world along side Nancy Drew.
The public library is such a cool place. A world of opportunities awaits inside its doors. The other evening, right after Mark and I left our book club meeting, I felt the need to go immediately to the library. It was so close!
It is at our public library that I explore new authors, re-visit old literary friends, borrow everything from books, to movies, to music and now, museum passes. I am so grateful for the gift that our library is and I am looking forward to finding new friends and treasures within its walls.
