Public

For the Love of Books

By Sara T.

I was five when I got my first library card. It was green and beige and I got to “sign” the back – clear evidence of my terrible kindergarten handwriting. My mom and I would take weekly trips there, a bag load of books hanging from her shoulder and an eager kid with a gap-toothed smile pulling on her arm to get inside.

I grew up in the pages of “Corduroy” and “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” “Junie B. Jones” and “Little Critter.” And when I got tired of imagined classrooms and lost buttons, I found “Harry Potter,” “Nancy Drew” and “Charlie Bone.” Books were the one thing my mom would always splurge on when I was young. Who needed more clothes or toys when you could have books – a quasi-toy that I would play with for much longer than my Barbies.

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Travel

By Lori Z.  The library is a portal to a larger world. It goes beyond books and media. Library programs have introduced my family to singers, actors, artists and writers from around the world. It reminds us that we are part of a much larger community and has gifted us with a different perspective than … Read more

Bookmobile Beginnings

By Stephanie W. 

I grew up in a remote northern Ontario town, where the public library was, at first, too far away to visit. But a bookmobile came around every 3 weeks, and we were allowed to check out 2 books at a time. I had learned to read early, and always finished my 2 books within days, which left me waiting, eagerly, for return visits. Then when I was 8, a tiny branch library opened in a local strip mall, and my life changed. I virtually lived there, and devoured first the children’s section, and then, with my parents’ signed permission, the adult section. I read everything from Encyclopedia Brown to the Encyclopedia of Human Biology. My parents stressed the importance of education and reading, but were anything but wealthy, and could never have afforded to buy me everything – or much of – what I devoured. I directly credit libraries for the fact that I never thought that lack of money meant that I would be shut out of the joys of education, reading, or knowledge.

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Diving Into a World of Possibilities……

By Tina G.  I’ve gone to the Library all my life….It opens a world of possibilities for reading novels, self help, fantasy, websites. I took my girls when they were very young and each received their very own library card…. We went every week to read, find new adventures in books and do homework projects…. We … Read more

Summer Fun Circa 1974

By Sandy H. 

As a child, I participated in our town library’s summer reading program.

As an incentive to read, the librarian created a bulletin board filled with bookworms. The board was marked off at 10 book intervals, ending with 100. Children were allowed to move “their” worm forward based on the number of books read. After giving my weekly oral book reports to a library volunteer, I was allowed to move the worm with my name on it up the chart. I liked that.

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Libraries Forever……

By Nann T. 

Just because of the techy developments of today does not mean that libraries are to become irrelevant….look at History….Libraries have continued to exist for centuries due to their need….the need of people to research and to read, to collect and to write….their reflections of their lives, the events….The idea that libraries are to be diminished is ridiculous…like the microwave and the stove….Exist side by side, all of the collecting points that Man finds to be necessary.

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Give a Person a Book…

By Joni S.  My mother-in-law immigrated from Italy to NY many decades ago. And while she embraced living in America and raising her children here, English was always a difficult second language for her. As she grew older and became more homebound, I learned that our local library was filled with an amazing Italian book selection.Those … Read more