My brother Ron sent me a postcard recently with a photo of the Gale Free Library in Holden, MA. It's the library that truly introduced me to books. I can wander every inch of the first floor in my mind. As I looked at the photo though, I thought, "I wonder what was upstairs?" I love historic buildings and wish I could wander it's rooms now.
The only home library I can't recall is in Worcester, MA where I lived until I was11. My early years were filled with dazzling, wonderful and personalized bedtime stories, but they were spoken and I do not recall books being involved. That may be one reason I had a hard time learning to read; my world was filled with words, but not print. I avoided books until my move to Holden when we joined the Bock family in life. Mom brought on the books and a life where books ruled. Ron's postcard opened the visual memory of all that to me.
I must admit, the TV has reduced the amount of reading I do and that makes me sad. But book lovers are a hearty breed, and they will find the time to read. They say you make time for what is important to you.
As an aside, I taught Adult Basic Ed to Kevin for about 5 years. When we began he was a divorced dad of a 5 year old son. He had a high school diploma, but did not know the alphabet (another story)! He was so self-conscious about his lack of reading skills, he refused to even 'read' the pictures in a picture book to his son because "if the neighbors hear me through the walls, they will know...." Sadness.
Kevin and I worked together weekly and by the time I moved he was easily reading middle school books like Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. He had gained so much confidence that he would look people in the eye, he could ask a stranger at a store store for a product he couldn't find, he would hold doors for people, and he no longer felt the need to spend hours on the telephone talking to tele-solicitors. He had a library card and every time he walked through the library door he felt empowered by his skill of literacy; words changed Kevin's world.
I buy very few books, but I love book stores and will gladly wander through the shelves. I admit I have used my phone to photo a book cover and then go to the library to borrow the book. As I said, you make time for what's important to you. You spend money on what is important to you as well. Since the library is free, my thirst for a book can be satisfied there. I generally buy used books for my reading group and new books for others. My library card is my admission to a much more diverse field of thinking.
Books are a journey. There was a restaurant in Vermont with the slogan "It's like dining in Europe without leaving Vermont". That's the way books are, arm chair travel while tucked in a favorite reading spot going nowhere. Knowledge gained, stress reduced, a mini empathy machine, showing me new viewpoints for my own world. Reading for me is a virtual vacation. Viewed from the floor of a library, surrounded by hundreds (1000s?) of options, books are the light of life.
Libraries equal free tranquility. Try it.