Books Make My Heart Happy!
I stopped by the library yesterday, and got a nice reminder of why I love such places. All of them are different, mainly due to the people who are working there at any given time. The one I worked at in my teens was rather louder and seemed far more boisterous. Of course, I would be too at 1:30 in the afternoon no matter what town I was in. But in the evening, the place I went to yesterday was nearly completely silent. Almost too quiet, when you noticed the number of people in the room. Apparently they mean business in that place when they say "quiet in the library"
Which leads me to a funny and quasi-related story. My mom did the smartest thing she could when she took us to the library as kids. Got us hooked early and would take us to check out books often. So, we got a nice round robin of things and got used to the idea of property rental at a young age. Apparently my mother tried to drill into me the necessity of being quiet when in such a place. So, at three years I figured I was an expert and needed to help enforce those cardinal laws of library etiquette. Upon entering the building one day I merrily hollered "Quiet in the Library!" at the top of my young lungs. My poor mother probably wanted to die on the spot. But both she and I survived the experience, and they even let us come back occasionally (when I could be trusted not to act like a wild animal).
Yesterday when I was browsing through the shelves, with almost perfect quiet in the room, I found myself rather enjoying libraries again. See, having so much time mandated there in college...yeah, it took some of the love out of the affair. But now the library and I are rekindling our relationship. I find that I like the shelves off the beaten path, rather hidden from everyone else's eye. It's just you and the books and it's great. You can almost imagine that the whole place is there just for you! Of course until someone rounds the corner looking for their own book, then your fantasy is sort of shattered. But it was nice for the few moments you had it.
I also continue to note that I love hardback books that have no dust jackets. Something about the leather and fabric and muted colors of the hardback books just...I don't know...looks right. Most of my hardbacks get their dust jackets shucked whenever I'm reading them. Once back on the shelf they get re-dressed, otherwise I won't recognize them. One day I'd like to replace all my paperbacks with hardbound covers. I've got so many different paperbacks of different volumes or series. It'd be really great to have row upon row of nice looking hardback books. Even though it'll cost me an arm and a leg to do it.
Which leads me to a funny and quasi-related story. My mom did the smartest thing she could when she took us to the library as kids. Got us hooked early and would take us to check out books often. So, we got a nice round robin of things and got used to the idea of property rental at a young age. Apparently my mother tried to drill into me the necessity of being quiet when in such a place. So, at three years I figured I was an expert and needed to help enforce those cardinal laws of library etiquette. Upon entering the building one day I merrily hollered "Quiet in the Library!" at the top of my young lungs. My poor mother probably wanted to die on the spot. But both she and I survived the experience, and they even let us come back occasionally (when I could be trusted not to act like a wild animal).
Yesterday when I was browsing through the shelves, with almost perfect quiet in the room, I found myself rather enjoying libraries again. See, having so much time mandated there in college...yeah, it took some of the love out of the affair. But now the library and I are rekindling our relationship. I find that I like the shelves off the beaten path, rather hidden from everyone else's eye. It's just you and the books and it's great. You can almost imagine that the whole place is there just for you! Of course until someone rounds the corner looking for their own book, then your fantasy is sort of shattered. But it was nice for the few moments you had it.
I also continue to note that I love hardback books that have no dust jackets. Something about the leather and fabric and muted colors of the hardback books just...I don't know...looks right. Most of my hardbacks get their dust jackets shucked whenever I'm reading them. Once back on the shelf they get re-dressed, otherwise I won't recognize them. One day I'd like to replace all my paperbacks with hardbound covers. I've got so many different paperbacks of different volumes or series. It'd be really great to have row upon row of nice looking hardback books. Even though it'll cost me an arm and a leg to do it.