It’s National Library Week and I think you all know how much I love the library. Approximately 75% of the books I read last year were checked out from the library and I always have a hold and wait list going.
But I have to confess, my love for the library was not always so great.
Growing up, I had a library card and I would periodically go to my local library. I remember going to the children’s section upstairs and sometimes walking through other parts of the libary. I occasionally checked out books but not at the rate I do now. In middle school, it felt like I lived in my school library as I made my way through all the Nancy Drew books. Later, I would return to my local library to use the microfiche machines to do research for high school term papers.
But then I kind of stepped away from visiting the library.
It wasn’t until I was living in DC and realized the full potential of the hold list feature that I starting using the library again. The hold list blew me away – I could put books on hold and a library would pull them from the shelf and put them in a certain spot where I could then pick them up? That meant that I didn’t have to traipse through the library looking for books. If a book was checked out, I could just get in line and be notified when it was available.
It was fantastic.
Now, living in Seattle, I am all about the library. I use the library to check out books, check out movies, see authors talk, and wander the stacks. I love the Dewey decimal system and I’m proud that I can find a book on the shelf.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes about libraries:
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
― Jorge Luis Borges
“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”
― Albert Einstein
“The library is like a candy store where everything is free.”
― Jamie Ford
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