Libraries are amazingly important to us, aren’t they?
Not only are they often the grand halls of reading that
serve as havens for the book lovers among us, but they are also community
centers, places of education and employment, and simply good places to come in
to and relax in a quiet, and usually welcoming, atmosphere.
I don’t remember really paying all that much attention to
libraries until about halfway through grade school. It was at about that time
that my father started dropping me off at the library to work on my homework
away from the distraction of home. While it was certainly great for helping me
to focus, my favorite days quickly became the days where I had barely any
homework and would have hours to peruse the stacks. I would spend most of my
time at the magazine and comic racks, flipping through anything that looked
cool. I remember when a librarian first told me that I could actually take something
from one of those racks and just sit down and read as much as I wanted… It just
had never occurred to me that you could just take a book without checking it
out or paying for it and read it right there in the building! This would
normally be the point where I would dazzle you all with my advanced reading of
classic literature at such a young age, but really all I did initially was grab
a stack of MAD magazines and read them cover to cover.
It wasn’t until a little later that I really go into browsing
through the shelves for actual books but, once I did, I was rather hooked. I
remember the first anthropomorphic-themed book that I ever checked out from my
school library: The Wind in the Willows.
Back then, I wasn’t at all concerned about animal characters
or what they meant. I didn’t even make any kind of conscious decision about
liking them above any other kinds of characters. All I cared about was reading
something fun, and reading about a little mole in a smoking jacket with his
crazy friends sounded very fun to me indeed. I also remember feeling very
accomplished, picking that book out and reading it all on my own with no
teacher or parent giving it to me as some kind of assignment. My idyllic
childhood memory of the book was a massive tome that had so many pages that I
never knew when the end would come, but I have no idea where that memory comes
from, as the book isn’t even as long as a Redwall
novel.
After reading and loving The Wind in the Willows, I was determined to read more books just
like it to see if they would be equally as fun. I don’t remember everything
that I read, but I know that I read a ton of books about mice and cats, as they
tended to appear on the covers of a lot of books. I’m pretty sure I even read
one or two books that didn’t have anything to do with animals, but I picked
them up anyways because there was some feline on the cover and, darn it, that
was just a book that I had to read through!
It was a wonderful period of literary discovery and
adventure, where I would scan the shelves eagerly for books that I hadn’t yet
read or heard about. I just wanted to see new things and go on adventures with
all of the characters trapped in the pages of their stories! And those
adventures would never have been possible without my library or the librarians
who helped me to find books that I might like. I remember one of my favorite
librarians was some 20-30ish guy with puffy hair and a moustache whom I must
have asked for book recommendations from at least a dozen times. I don’t know if
he ever got tired of me, but I do know that I owe my first reading of Redwall and Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain to him, and I’m
forever thankful.
So, here’s a tip of the hat to you, libraries. Without
you, I’m certain that we readers and lovers of stories would be a far smaller
bunch.
Until next time, happy reading, all!
-Chammy
Currently Reading:
The Forges of Dawn
by E.M. Kinsey
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