Take me to the Library

John Guillen36 Comments

mrr

Photo Credit: Library of Congress

I may or may not have not told you guys about my experience with libraries. So let’s talk about it.

I’d hope you know by now that I love books. You have to know this. Well my elementary school was pretty old and its library was far from great. And there were only two computers. The fifth grade had its own mini computer lab and there were multiple computer labs in the school, but the library for some reason didn’t get in on the technology.

Suffice it to say that my very first library I spent some time in did not do anything for my love of books. And maybe I hadn’t even realized it yet.

My middle school library was something else. It was about four times the size of the elementary school library and had what I thought was a gazillion books. BUT as you all know, middle school is seven classes a day with very little time in between. I rarely had time to go to the library even though it was so nice.

My high school even added to what my middle school had in its library. More computers and more shelves of books than I could count. But I was a bad student in high school. My GPA and class rank were laughable. I never went to the library unless it was with my class.

BUT during my early high school years I found out that the county in which I live has a pretty sizeable library system. I got my library card and would do some really random Google searching to find my next book to check out almost weekly. Then I’d force my mom to drive me to the library so I could get my books.This lasted a couple of years because once I started working part-time I decided to desert the library for the bookstore.

My experience with libraries enabled and maintained my interest in reading. Sure I couldn’t always get the book I wanted because 100 other people wanted it before me, but that was okay. Because a few years of borrowing books has evolved into a few years of buying books and a love like no other. What’s your experience with libraries?

And if you look at my Bookish Bucket List you’ll see that visiting the Library of Congress is on there. I’m sure there are plenty of incredible libraries in the world, but we have one right here and I absolutely must see it. I’ll be like a little kid in a candy store.

36 thoughts on “Take me to the Library”

  1. I practically live at the library. Right now that’s easier because I only have to walk half a mile and I’m there. Plus I worked as a substitute librarian there for two years. When I was growing up, there was one library where my mom would take me and my sister to do our school work before the library even opened, because we would help shelve books and work in the library. This was back when I was eleven and it was what really started me learning how to use the library to its fullest and to really appreciate it. I’ve lived in more towns with small libraries than big, and most of them I could walk or ride my bike to. I borrow more books than I buy, and personally I think they are one of the greatest inventions. Thank you Peter Cooper for starting free libraries.

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    • Do you know what your comment reminded me of? Matilda. I remember in the movie that she used to go to her library and come back with a wagon full of books. I don’t know who Peter Cooper is.

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      • Oh gosh yes! Right now I have five poetry books, three cookbooks, three novels, an audio book, a dvd…. Okay, those aren’t all books, but usually I have just books. I read a lot of reference and poetry…. I check out books I want to read but never get to them. I check out books I’ve checked out before. (my list of books I want to read is HUGE and I rarely ever finish it. I have a stack of books I own that I want to read, and I’ve yet to read them all) I have what I like to call, a book fetish. 😛

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      • Potato potato (say them both ways) So addiction or fetish (used improperly) but still, in my world (where cat’s and rabbits would reside in fancy little houses….) it means the same. Lol

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  2. I love the library! I used to be addicted, I would go there all the time and always come out with an armful of books. Now that I work, I like to buy my books, but have to be a lot more selective. I still love the library, and need to check it out more 🙂 (see what I did there)

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  3. I lived in the DC metro area for nearly 30 years and I have visited every Smithsonian museums, gallery, and hundreds if not thousands of monuments in the area, mostly with my children as part of school, scouts, or with visiting family members.
    Once my children moved out of the house and on their own, and two months into retirement, I spent two weeks touring the Library of Congress.
    I recommend, no demand this visit to anyone who has ever read a book in a library. The facility is simply magical and awe inspiring. Take your time to enjoy this incredible jewel of our great country. You will be forever moved with the majesty of the building and whatever you seek to read and so much more.
    Check out the site, http://www.loc.gov

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  4. Until recent years I rarely purchased books. I used the public library to find books to read. I loved books even when I was a child, I was probably tween-age when I began reading books and spending time in libraries. When my children were young, a day spent at the local library was our entertainment.

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      • Yeah, pretty much you are right. I only have so much time. I can go into my Kindle, shop for a book online, and have it on my Kindle in 30 seconds. I really like that better than a trip to the library or ordering a book online and waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Bookstores still enchant me, but I have little time to spend that way. I wish I could find more time to sit in the Barnes and Noble’s cafe reading their books and sipping coffee. This tempts me every time we drive by B&N.

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  5. Library field trips (about once a month or every six weeks) was my VERY favorite day of the month! My elementary/middle school/junior high school’s “library” wasn’t even contained in a room. It was four longish shelves in the lower level of the school. Terrible selection, to say the least. We would take trips to the library in the younger grades to be read to, but also to pick out new books and such. My teachers actually had to restrict how many I could check out because I’d have a huge stack to take home with me. I carried this tradition into junior high, but when I hit high school, I didn’t have the time to hit the library and just read whatever I had at home, or bought used books at library sales when I had the time to go.

    Now, I purchase more books than I borrow, but I still love the atmosphere and coziness of a library, unless it’s a really new one, because they’re not as cozy and look more like a school instead of a haven for books and book lovers.

    Seeing the Library of Congress is on my Travel Bucket List. My sister did an internship there one summer and I was SOOOO jealous. (She has a master’s in library science). She said it was the most amazing experience. Not fair.

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  6. I wrote my second post on this topic and i still have the burning ambition to see the Library Anscient Ursino of rare books in Sicily Italy- it looks wicked.

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  7. I have my library card number memorized. Does that answer anything? Haha the school library was always my favorite. I didn’t care about the computers as long as they had the books I wanted. But like you, I started buying more books as I got older and had jobs. I have a bad habit of checking out way more than I know I can read in the 3-weeks I’m allowed, so I always have fines. 😉 but then I return them and the fines go away. I think I have a fine right now. Hmm… Probably should fix that.

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    • I actually used to have my library card number memorized too. I thought it was the coolest thing. I think I missed out on the whole library experience. Cause it seems that everyone else was checking out a gazillion books and I always had my one. Oh well.

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      • I know… Same here. One book at a time is better though cause you’ll have time to finish it. Unlike me who checks out like 20 of them and only have 3 weeks to read them all.

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      • Yeah I don’t know. I was going to try to read 4 books a month this year but so far I’ve read like 9 1/2. Unless audiobooks count. If so, then 10 1/2. Haha

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      • Lol really? Better get reading!!! I read way more in the winter when there is nothing to do outside… I live in Washington, so when we get nice weather, we definitely take advantage of it! It’s been in the mid-high 80’s here all week so I’ve been outside most of the time.

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  8. I love libraries, more so book stores! I could easily spend hours sitting around and spending time reading (in the library) or looking for a new book to add to my collection (bookstore).

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