by “Ever since we had arrived in the United States, my classmates kept asking me about magic carpets.– They don’t exist-I always said. I was wrong. Magic carpets do exist. But they are called library cards.” Firoozeh Dumas, Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad
“When I got [my] library card, that was when my life began.” Rita Mae Brown, Rita Will: Memories of a Literary Rabble-rouser
“The Parkchester Library was my haven. To thumb through the card catalog was to touch an infinite bounty, more books than I could ever possibly exhaust.” Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World
We went to the library on Friday and were charmed by this cheerful little exhibit. Apparently we weren’t the only adults who liked it. There were no kids around, just a few grown-ups with bright eyes and big smiles, ostensibly collecting Snoopy coloring pages for their kids.
I wondered if the others were remembering the magic of their first card and their early trips to the library. Perhaps they also smiled to think about taking their own children to the library. My son used to love visiting “the girls” … that is, the librarians hosting pre-school story-hour.
Thank goodness for free libraries, one of the foundations of democracy, of learning and refuge and wonder. And here we are again: September! now officially library card sign-up month for another generation of children. Some traditions are worth keeping. Some pleasures don’t fade with time.
The photographs are mine and the cartoon is the work of Chris OBrion, writer, illustrator, visual journalist and editorial cartoonist.
I visited St. Petersburg Russia shortly after Perastoika and they were trying to fill libraries. I went with my daughter who had lived there a year and made friends with a woman who allowed us to stay with her. This friend was good friends with a very talented artist, who my daughter also knew from when she lived there. I found out that she became a friend of this artist when she was in university. He had a big library of books that were banned in the USSR and would loan them to her. She would share them with friends so they could discuss them, then take them back for more. Let us never forget how fortunate we are to have access to all books and fight against banning.
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Amen! Truly a blessings and a cornerstone of democracy. Thank you for your visit and comment, Pat.
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I don’t remember exactly when I got my first library card but I clearly remember Mom taking me to the library every couple of weeks when I was elementary school age and I would get the maximum amount of books that I could. I felt so important to use that card and reading all those books fed my soul. I still love getting lost in a good read. I agree, Jamie, library cards are happiness cards!
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And yes, it’s a thrill watching the giant, proud smile on a child’s face when she/he gets their first library card.
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Best job I’ve ever had. Loving every minute of it (well, most every minute–computer crashes aren’t fun anywhere). Thanks for promoting and doing your bit to keep me employed. 😉
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I hadn’t realized you work at the library. How wonderful is that for a poet, writer, reader? Great!
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It’s been a year and four months now, and it’s truly the best fit for me, yes. 🙂
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Congratulations, David. Employment is always good. When you like the employment, that’s great. Bravo!
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Indeed a wonderful tradition…hopefully parents will assist their children.
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After nursing, I studied and passed the tests the country gave to be a librarian and was interviewed. Of course, didn’t get the job. Sometimes I wonder…if I had life to do over again, this is a consideration.
BTW, my novel “The Sin of His Father” is free on Kindle today and tomorrow…if you know anyone who might be interested.
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Thanks, Victoria. I’ll check it out.
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Recently read a story in a back issue of the Sun magazine about how it felt to be denied a library card because the author was at that time homeless. No permanent address; no card. Very sad. Steve often asks me if I remember the day I got my first library card. It seems to be one of only a few specific childhood memories he has himself.
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Yes! I think you have to have an address to get a card and it is sad. That’s something we can do for homeless that is easy and kind.
Do you remember when you got your first card, Priscilla?
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Not really, but I do vividly remember taking my daughter Susan to get hers. The library was built from an old farmhouse with a silo attached. Susan loved to sit in the window box upstairs in the Young Adults section, though the children’s section was in the basement. They built a new, modern library at the end of our subdivision where a dairy farm had been a few years later.
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Lovely!
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