Library? What library?
I just discovered the Booking Through Thursday blog and last Thursday, the subject was on libraries. Readers were asked,
What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?
I wish I had early childhood memories of visiting a library. I wish there was a library in my neighborhood that I could visit. I loved to read as a child and my mom bought me lots of books. She often bought the books in twos – one for me and one to give as a present to a friend since almost every weekend, there was a birthday party to attend.
I read the books faster than my mom could buy and I dreamt of going to a public library, if only there was one around. There were pockets of community with good libraries but mine had none. If I could have wished a library into existence, I would have. But I couldn’t, so I borrowed books from friends. I lent them mine. I borrowed books from friends of friends. My friends passed my books on to other friends of theirs. Some of the books I never saw again. But that was how we made do. Everybody was my library.
I went to secondary school at eleven years old and we had a library filled with textbooks, encyclopedias and some old classics. If there had been modern novels at some time, they must have been borrowed. When desperate for a book to read, I had ocassionally dusted off some of the old books to read. For some reason, the only book title I can remember is the “The serendipity shop“. The word, serendipity got stuck in my head.
Back in my town, I heard the news that a library would be built. It was exciting news. Whenever we drove past the construction site, I would imagine what the inside of the building would look like, I could smell the new books that would line the shelves. I wondered what type of chairs would be inside. I wondered if I would read in the library or take the books home. I wondered how many books we would be allowed to borrow at a time. I couldn’t wait for the library to be ready.
Then one day it was. At least, construction appeared to be completed. We heard the library was waiting for the books. No updates for a long time. Then grass started to sprout from beneath the gravel-covered grounds. Tall grass started to obscure the walk path to the building entrance. I was grossly disappointed but the grown-ups weren’t surprised - they said it was another white elephant, a term used to describe the many uncompleted projects that littered our landscape.
