the library in summer

 

This summer, I keep hearing about summer reading programs. Thomas' good friend is signed up for one at our local library (he's a year older than Thomas). I never would have thought to sign up Thomas quite yet, and I am sent back in my own memories. Somehow I never participated in a summer reading program and this stumps me. Were libraries not doing that sort of thing in the 80's and early 90's? It's a bit like reading fairs they have at schools now - not a big book sale, which I remember well and it was nearly better than Christmas in my mind - but like a science fair but with books. So unfair, that I missed out on something I would have LOVED to do. I bet you I would have won FIRST PLACE in a reading fair. 

Thinking of libraries and summer makes me think of the library in my hometown. It's always been my hometown but I didn't live there for any length of time until my first year of high school. It's tiny but that didn't lessen my excitement when my Grandma would take me there as a child. I remember the glass doors and the narrow hallway with the water fountain. You would open another glass door to the library and the ice cold air conditioning would blast you backwards. It was cold in the library, always, as if all the books were ancient treasures that needed to be kept at a certain temperature for preservation. The library was the only one in the whole county, unless you count school libraries. Later, I would spend a summer at the community college library, and that is whole other story that I had almost forgotten, until this minute. 

The children's books were all in shelves along the floor. I remember going when I was young enough to check out picture books; before I was in the pink reading group in first grade and allowed to advance to chapter books. I remember the glass cases full of tiny creations or dead animals stuffed and nearly lifelike, near the door. The librarian's desk was tall and you had to make sure you didn't check out too many books. There was a limit. She stamped the due dates with her fascinating stamp, checking her calendar for the date two weeks from today. She seemed to know my Grandma. We would go back to the car, me holding the stack of books close to my chest. I remember the drive home, looking up from a book that had me in its thrall already, watching the houses slip by, where people I didn't know lived, wondering about who they were. I still wonder. 

It makes me want to go back, and run my finger along the shelves. I want to hear the crackle of the plastic covering and feel the blast of cold air. There are many ways to come home again, I think, and sometimes being home is scattered in the cracks on the sidewalk and in the corners of a tiny, nearly obsolete library. 

Comments

[lizardek]

Nostalgia for me, too :) aaaah, those stacks of books!

[Megsie]

I remember my library too, but I was never a "regular" customer. They had a giant hand that was like a bean bag chair, that you could sit on and read your books. Last summer we tried to use the library more...every two weeks we went back to re-check some books. The kids loved it, but they love the book store better. I do too. I think it has something to do with the way books are organized. It is easy to find your favorite books in a bookstore. But once we learned where to look it got better. We haven't been there yet this summer. Next week? A good idea.

Now. Tell me more about "Reading Fairs!" I have never heard of them! I want DETAILS. It sounds amazing!

[bethany actually]

You never participated in a summer reading program!? Wow. I participated in them as far back as I can remember, all the way up through high school, which was the entirety of the 80s and early 90s. :-) We used to win prizes for every 5 or 10 books we read (gift certificates to local restaurants, mostly). And for kids Thomas's age, there are read-to-me programs! They get credit for every book someone reads TO them. You should look into it!

[El-e-e]

I have such similar memories!! The tall desk and the smell of all those books, especially. (delcious) And the AC. Loved your version. :)

[Nick G.]

I was involved in summer reading programs at our library as a kid, I always got the biggest award they had for number of books read, and I didn't even try. I still remember my first library card, I was so proud of it. My grandmother worked there, too, so I also got to spend time with the librarians a lot just visiting, it was pretty cool!

[Jackie]

I have many fond memories of the library. As a teen that is where I spent all my free time. Now as a parent, I am introducing my kids to the wonders of a library and all the books with alternate realities to read about.