Library Day

One of my absolute favorite places on Earth is our Public Library. I visit every three weeks and really look forward to the time I spend there, browsing among the thousands of books, looking for whatever titles pique my interest on a particular day. Today, I am in the mood for gardening books. Our Wisconsin weather has put us in the deep freeze for the past couple of days, closing schools and keeping everyone indoors because of the dangerous wind chills. (-25 degrees F below zero!) The snow and cold have driven me to get a breath of spring...so gardening books it is!

I remember the day I first got my library card. It was registration day for second grade elementary school. On the way home, my mother stopped at a huge, grey building and said that it was time for me to get a library card. I remember stepping from the sunlight into the cool, dim, interior and being enveloped in the wonderful , quiet world of the library and books. Even the smell was delicious...paper and ink, wooden tables and dusty tomes. I was smitten.

I picked out two books, one about cowboys and another about a small Chinese boy called Little Pear. I carefully and proudly signed my name on my brand new card and as we left, I asked my Mom why she hadn't paid the librarian for my books. She explained that I was borrowing the books and I had to bring them back. They didn't charge money to borrow their books.

I thought that the library was the greatest invention anyone could have come up with, free books all the time!

So, began my life-long love affair with books and reading. No matter what age I am, or how many times I have been to the library, the anticipation is still the same. I can't wait to get there and when I leave, I am eager to delve into the new pile I bring home....such richness!

So, I will log off for now.....I have some reading to do!