Thursday, August 21, 2008

Booking Through Thursday - Libraries

Here's today's BTT question:


Whether you usually read off of your own book pile or from the library shelves NOW, chances are you started off with trips to the library. (There’s no way my parents could otherwise have kept up with my book habit when I was 10.) So … What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?

I think I've written about my childhood library experiences before. My parents took me when I was in elementary school to the main library, but my fondest memory is of the Bookmobile that stopped at our school playground in the summer. I could go by myself and get a whole bagful of books. That was the best day of the week in the summer.

When I was a little older, I rode my bike to the library with friends. We'd load up our backpacks with books and stop at Thrifty's (a local drugstore) for 25 cent ice cream cones. The children's librarian knew all our names and saved books she thought we'd like.

Currently, my own daughter went to library story times from the time she was a toddler and the children's librarian knows her name as well. I've rediscovered the library with her and she participated in the library's summer reading program for the last three years.

What about you?

11 comments:

SmilingSally said...

Ah, you're a good mom.

Confuzzled Shannon said...

My librarian never gave that much attention to who came at least they didn't with me and I know most of them still work at library.

Literary Feline said...

I love the idea of a book mobile. I never saw one growing up, but I've heard so much about them as an adult. I can imagine how exciting it would be to have one stop at your school in the summer.

I am glad your library still has a children's reading program. I have fond memories of being a part of the summer programs while I was growing up. I am sure you daughter is building wonderful memories of your local library too.

Wanda said...

Well, I'm from rural Nova Scotia and though we have a library about ten minutes away from where I live now, it didn't exist when I was little. We did however, have a bookmobile that stopped just up the hill from our place but it was mostly a summertime route. The school library is what I remember most fondly. All those books and story time; library day was the best! From “Scratch and Sniff” books in grade primary, on to “Owls in the Family” in grade four and up to books like “Island of the Blue Dolphins” and “A Wrinkle in Time”, I was always tickled to be able to take these treasures home. If we were lucky enough to get the librarian for homeroom in grade six (and I was), we got to take turns working at the sign out desk. How cool was that? Very!

Our local librarians know me and all three of my children (ages 8, 14 and 18) by their first name. The summer reading program is/was a hit with all three and hey, who doesn't love a great puppet show based on a popular children's book. :)

Anonymous said...

Any library was always one of my favorite spots to be as a child, right up there with the top of a tree. The earliest I remember was going to the school library with my classmates once a week. I always picked out the maximum number of books allowed, and always had them finished in time for the next library day. The school library had a bookworm program and I was always pretty successful with it. Though honestly, I don't remember the details anymore. These days, though, between book stores and the internet, I almost never go to a library anymore.

Sheesha said...

Just checking out your blog for the first time.... It looks like we read a lot of the same books. Maybe you can help me - I read a book a while back and for the life of me have forgotten the name of it....And the author.... Anyway - the story was about a woman who owned a bookstore, her husband dies while crossing the street. Her ex-husband maintains a winery. They have two girls together and she has a son with the 2nd husband... They try dating again. It was a really good book - unfortunately I loaned it out immediately after reading and haven't gotten it back...:(! Anyway just thought I'd see if anyone out there has an idea of what book it was! How sad is that!...

BookWormz said...

I remember walking in to our library (which seemed HUUUUGE at the time, but was actually two floors and about half the size of a small Hobby Lobby) and just getting lost in a maze of books! There was no better way to spend an afternoon than with a bag of twizzlers and a good book! :)

Ian said...

Not my earliest library memory, but my favourite: I used to chat to my local librarian a lot. She read the manuscript for my first novel and said that it was better than much of the stuff in the library. That made my day. She also got me into reading Charles Willeford's Hoke Mosely novels, which I'd never have read otherwise.

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Jamie said...

I remember my stepmom always taking us to the library and I would be in the kids section forever! It was honestly the most exciting part of my week. I would check out about 10 chapter books each week. It was just so exciting to me!