“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” ~
I’ve no doubt said this before here on One Writer’s Journal, but I’m saying it again. I love libraries. Without the library in my hometown and my wonderful mother making sure I got a library card and the opportunity to use it, I don’t think I would have thirty-five books published. Some of those books are on my local libraries shelves now. What a wonder that is! I’m not sure I was even brave enough to dream that might happen when I was a very young want-to-be writer finding books to read at my library.
But now I do have a row of books on the shelf in my library. Look for the “G’s” and there I am. And not only in my library but in other libraries all across my state and other states too. No, I couldn’t have possibly dreamed such a big dream when I was a little girl checking out Black Beauty or a Hardy Boys mystery. Then later I devoured such classics as Rebecca, Wurthering Heights and Dr. Zhivago not to mention Gone with the Wind and other popular titles. I needed a diet of words at that age and even today. A writer needs words – her own and other writer’s words too.
Now I have the pleasure of not only having free access into a library where books of all sizes and subject matter are there for the borrowing, but also of being invited to book events at libraries. Sometimes I’m asked to speak. Other times I’m one of several authors for a book fair. That’s what happened yesterday at the Gathering of Authors at the Paul Sawyier Library in nearby Frankfort. The beautiful windows above cover a big part of the wall at one end of their entrance hallway area. It’s beautiful, especially with the sun lighting up the windows.
I love libraries that are thriving. At the Paul Sawyier Library yesterday, people drifted in and out with armloads of books. Parents came with their children. One husband pushed his wife’s wheelchair inside. Later, they came back outside with the wife holding books in her lap. Some came in alone but left with books for company. I loved seeing kids clutching favorite books on their way out the door. The only requirement for use of the library is the desire to walk through the doors and enter a world of books and reading.
Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest. ~Lady Bird Johnson
The Paul Sawyier Library underwent an overhaul not long ago. Everything looks new and beautiful. My local Anderson Public Library also had a face lift and an expansion. Other libraries across the state have remodeled and added more room for books along with more room for author events. On October 19th, the library here in Lawrenceburg is planning their first Annual Book Signing event. Before that I’m off to the Heartland Book Festival in Elizabethtown on September 21st.
I like being invited to library events. I get to talk to other writers. I get to meet new readers. I am in a place that came into being merely because a community needs books. Not that they don’t have more than books. They do. Computers, story hours and summer programs for kids, places to sit and enjoy a little quiet, study rooms, meeting rooms and more. But books are the stars.
If I was a book, I would like to be a library book, so I would be taken home by all different sorts of kids. ~Cornelia Funke
Yesterday my books got to ride home with a few new people. I got to meet other writers with a wide variety of books. Poetry. Mysteries. Historical. Non-fiction. Books with lovely covers enticing readers to pick them up and dive into the words. Beauty awaits in libraries, not only in the decorations, but on the shelves too. Those books on the shelves fed my hunger for stories when I was a kid and gave me the joy of words and a doorway into fictional worlds.
What do you like best about libraries?
Comments 13
We have your books on the shelves of our libraries down here in Hillsborough County (Central Florida), many of which I have enjoyed reading. Thanks for loving our libraries and supporting them. We certainly love our authors too!
Author
Fun to know my books are in your library in Florida. Even better to know that you’ve enjoyed reading some of them. Thank you. I appreciate you joining in with my love for libraries and also for authors.
I am 81 and grew up in a small town in WV which did not have a library BUT a bus from the library came once a week and we were SO happy. I still enjoy reading since I am homebound due to lower back surgery 6 years ago. Like mystery, historical, religious, reading about former presidents (HST was a great one), and discovered Amish books about 5 years ago.
I am 81 and grew up in a small town in WV which did not have a library BUT a bus from the library came once a week and we were SO happy. I still enjoy reading since I am homebound due to lower back surgery 6 years ago. Like mystery, historical, religious, reading about former presidents (HST was a great one), and discovered Amish books about 5 years ago. I read your books with treat pleasure.
Author
So glad you had a library bus that came your way, Linda. Do you still get books from the library? I know our local library has an outreach to those who can’t make it to the library location. They don’t run the bookmobile that they did for many years when I was a kid and after that too. But now they will deliver books to those who need the service. I think that’s wonderful.
Thank you so much for reading my stories. I so appreciate that.
It may sound strange, but I love the smell of a library! And I get excited just seeing all the possibilities! Like my dad said when he retired, I’d like to read every single one.
Author
I so agree, Karen. Just walking into a library is like going through a door into a place of endless possibilities. Not sure about the smell. I think I used to notice that book smell when the libraries were smaller and more book centered. Now with the open spaces for computer users, I don’t notice a unique scent anymore. Love your dad’s remark.
I LOVE libraries because I can go get a variety of books to read & enjoy! The best part is that they are FREE! I have plenty of books in my personal library but there’s so many choices there. And if per chance it’s not one I like, I can return it without having spent a penny! I recently reminded my daughter who is always buying books that she should check to see if she could get books for free at the library! And she believed me & has started going to check out books rather than buying them! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Our county libraries are scattered all over our area! I love that if my branch doesn’t have a copy of the book I requested they will get it & then let me know via the internet. Looking online to find out if the library has it is real bonus! E-books & audio books are other pluses! Yes, I love libraries & love to promote them to others!
Author
You are a complete library fan and user, Betsy. I don’t use the library the way I used to since I seem to have a pile of books here at the house that I’m trying to get to read. But you are right that the library is a great place to get books for free with no harm done if you don’t like the book. Gives you more leeway to try a new author and to find new books to love. I’m trying to get connected with audio books through the library.
Ann, I’m a huge fan & user of both Overdrive app & Hoopla app. I think not sure both are connected to my library! I do not know the difference between the two but I love having books read to me. I don’t use the ebooks as much b/c I like to have a book to hold! Often one or the other will have copies of books I want to read that the library doesn’t have?? Both apps are free! You will love them!
Author
I signed up for Libby. That’s something like Overdrive, I think. But I couldn’t get my library card to work in the sign-up. I need to go to the library and check to see what I need to do to get the card to work. Somebody said maybe the library had changed the cards. I thought I had a new one, but maybe not.
I love that libraries nurture curiosity about learning new things. Our local library is rich with books in print, on audio media, for e-readers, magazines, movies, computers, activities for all ages, classes, field trips sponsored by the library, speakers, a used book store where used books are sold inexpensively (with the profits used to buy more things for the library), etc.
Author
The library where I was Saturday has a very nice used bookstore. It’s only open for a limited number of hours since I think it’s run by volunteers. Maybe a friends of the library group. But that’s a fun place to let kids find a book to read. Or find one yourself. Sounds as if you have a great library. Suzanne. I love that libraries do so much to promote reading.