Check it out

Bug got his first library card last night and he signed it. Then he spent a bit of time selecting which books he would take home with him. I hope he enjoys his library as much as I enjoyed mine growing up. I loved everything about our small town library. The children's section was in the basement. It had a picture book room with the tiny chairs (and a special bathroom with a teeny toilet for tots) and the larger open area for bigger kids. I couldn't wait until I was big enough to sit in the full-size chairs. As a little girl I envied the older kids who would pick out a book or two, sit at a table, flip through the books and try to write a report for school. I practiced making their scrunched-up/thinking faces. It looked so grown-up and smart and I couldn't wait to do it.

I made my own library at home out of the books on my bookshelf with signs for anyone who wanted to borrow them along with fees if they were returned late. It was as profitable as the time my brother and I tried to dig a swimming pool in our backyard. Oh, how I wanted a date stamp like the librarian had. For years I thought her name was Mrs. Carnegie because that was the name of the library.


The library near us isn't as glamorous as the one I grew up with. Sure, you get that "library" smell when you walk in but it doesn't have the charm of a building from 1902. I'm hesitant to visit "my" library again. I want to keep my memories just as they are. Who wants to see that the entry way by the librarian's desk isn't as grand as it was as a child or that the section just to the right of the door where people read newspapers isn't as exclusive as once thought? I'm happy to keep the memories I have and ready to build some with Bug at his library. Who knows when he grows up he may look back and think that his library was beautiful, too.