Library nights...

Library nights...

Tonight after supper I took care of a bunch of mundane housekeeping tasks - paid a few bills, balanced my checkbook, that sort of thing. Then I saw the stack of books that I needed to return to the library. It was only a little after eight and it seemed like a good time to take a little walk.

On the way there I was trying to decide if I had to time to read anything new. The last round of books was fairly intense, and I realized I'd like something a little lighter, and maybe not so long. A full-length novel seemed like too big a commitment. That reminded me of NotThatFar's recent post, but I couldn't remember the title or author he recommended.

Fortunately the library now has Internet access, and surprise: there was a station free. So I pulled up the post, found the title and author, then flipped to the GPL online catalog and found it is still on the shelves. So I checked it out and brought it home.

On the walk home I found myself remembering library nights in another lifetime. During the late 80s just about every week - I think it was usually on Wednesdays - I'd pile the kids into the car or in a wagon or on bikes and we'd go to the library. We'd load up with huge stacks of books and bring them home for the week.

That was back before they remodeled the GPL. The kid's section was on the right when you walked in the doors off of 5th Street. (At least that's what I remember. B seems to think it was always downstairs, so I may have it wrong. Does anyone remember for sure?) When it came time to check out, we'd bring a huge stack of books to the desk and help the librarian open them all to the back cover. Then she'd pull out all the cards and replace them with a card stamped with the due date, and feed the card from the book into this punch machine that would notch the card and stamp the due date on it.

CHUNK! CHUNK! CHUNK! Then this old machine would jamb and she'd take out a scissors, carefully clean up the edge, and then CHUNK!

I think my favorite books from the era - and there were a lot of them - were probably Vera B Williams: "Something Special for Me" and "Music, Music for Everyone" and "A Chair for My Mother" and "Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe". Something about the colors and the drawings, and the little heroine, Rosa. She had a lot of spunk, and she was a musician too.

Fond memories.