The Library

   One of the things that attracted us when we first bought our house is that it is located within easy walking distance of a library. As a kid I loved the library. I went at least once a week to check out books for most of my childhood. I participated in the summer reading programs. I liked reading books about nurses. I wanted to be a nurse when I grew up.
   In my teen years I still loved the library. Books were really the only friends I had. I discovered my favourite book, Ivanhoe, after seeing a really bad TV movie. I also read as many Scarlet Pimpernel books as I could find. This was along with the Cherry Ames series, Sue Barton series and the Trixie Belden series.
  I have always been several years above my age group when it came to reading. I was in junior high when I started getting books out the adult section. I discovered Perry Mason books and the wonderful Agatha Christie.
  That ended when I got to college. I didn't have time to read for pleasure anymore. The college library didn't have much of a fiction selection anyway. In my last couple years of college I was introduced to the science fiction- fantasy genre by my then boyfriend. He introduced me to Mercedes Lackey who is still one of my favourite authors.
  Once I started working, my library trips were fewer because I worked a lot. I was determined to become the best pharmacist I could possibly be so I devoted all my energy to it. I would sometimes treat myself to a splurge at a local bookstore where I would buy things to read.
   I continued to do that until we moved here. I was (and still am) grateful to have a library nearby. It's a nice library that was remodeled shortly after we moved in. There is a large computer area and plenty of open space.  The reading area is spacious with comfortable chairs to sit in that overlooks the large green lawn and trees in the back of the library. As soon as I could I got a card imagining weekly trips and tons of books to read. Work intervened however and my library trips were few. Once I started teaching interns, I went to the library a bit more often. Our library has one and two person study rooms. The rooms were perfect for me to meet with my interns to go over assignments away from the pharmacy.
  Lately I've rediscovered the library. The age of technology has made things very easy. I can check from my computer at home to see if a book I want is at our library. If it is I can go down and check it out. I can request books from other libraries at home too. The best part for me is that I get an email when my books are about to expire. I really love that. I'm bad at keeping track of when I checked things out so this helps me to avoid fines. I can renew my books online if I am not done reading them or return them.
  Even with all the advanced technology there is still nothing better than wandering the stacks, at least not for me. I love to go through the biographies and other areas and look for books that might be interesting.
   I'm so thankful for our library and that we have such a good library system in the Twin Cities.....