Good pal Vickie “complained” recently about my lack of blogging and in the course of our dialog, she shared some ideas for when the mind is willing but the creative side (what little there is) of the brain is devoid of ideas. One of them was to talk about the library.
Springfield is blessed with a fabulous public library system and just recently opened a branch downtown on the square – it’s a small venue with longer weekend hours and geared to the perceived downtown clientele. We are blessed with an executive director whose vision is always on target so my bet is that this branch will be quite successful – can’t wait to get an opportunity to visit it.
Some of my fondest childhood memories are centered around the Callaway County Public Library in Fulton. I don’t recall much about story hours but do remember summer days when I rode my bike to the library (back in the old days when no one even thought about child abductions), gathered a stack of books that I placed in the wire basket on the front of my bike and then went home to sit on the front porch and read for hours. One summer I devoured an entire series of biographies – I remember the book covers were orange and I must have been about 7 or 8.
When my girls were little, going to the library was one of their favorite outings. Ralph had a little trouble with the word “library” and called it “why berry” which is how it came to be know in our family for years. At one time we lived where the Bookmobile stopped a couple of times a month and she christened it the “mookobile” – another phrase Tammy and I readily adopted.
So here’s to one of the best ideas ever created and thanks to Andrew Carnegie whose wealth funded over 2500 public libraries in the US in the early 20th century. Because of his foresight, millions of people have had the advantage of all that libraries have to offer. From books, card files and the sound of “shhh” from the staid librarian to today’s coffee shops, lounge areas, computer labs and books on tape, libraries offer one of the best bangs ever for our tax dollars.
PS – snaps to friend Vickie who was just appointed to the local library board – they couldn’t have made a wiser choice.
LOVE the library, I head to the Library Center every couple of weeks to get a whole new bag of books… And yes, my mom took us to the library often too, one of my favorite things as a kid. I’m sure that’s why I’m such a reader now.
My favorite library is the Brentwood Library. Not only does it pay homage to mid-century architecture, but I love the smell. Something about the smell of books has always been appealing to me.
When we were kids, we always read after dinner during holiday events (unless it was time to open presents!). I still like to sit on the couch after a holiday meal and read.