The Library

As I was falling asleep last night and trying (and failing) to come up with the fourth wing of Read Center at IU’s Bloomington campus (Curry was the one I couldn’t figure out. I had Beck, Clark and Landis but Curry was eluding me) I found myself mapping the residence hall in my mind.

And it occurred me that there was a library housed on the main floor of Clark.

I think I only ever went into that library twice in my two years of living in Read Center.

I know I was busy, I had a full load of classes, I had my friends, I had my job as a residence assistant. Yes, but…it was a library, in the same building where I lived! I imagine that now and it makes me sweat with excitement.

These days, the library is a big thing for me and the girls. We go to our local library every single week, checking out at least 18 if not 21 books to be read over the course of the week.

When Alyssa was about two years old, we ventured into our city library for the first time. It was winter and I was trying to figure out what we could do, where we could go that didn’t include fast food or buying a new toy somewhere.

The library opened up a whole new world for us. The children’s section had toys in one corner, books lining every wall and shelf. There was a puppet show every other Saturday and some weekends, service animals were brought in for kids who needed someone to whom they could read.

When we moved back into this area one of the first things we did was get a library card.

We have plenty of books at home but Olivia is one of the few kids I know who doesn’t want to hear certain books over and over. She likes to hear new books every day. So yay for the library, right?

I think given how much we enjoy libraries these days, it surprised me to remember that library back at Read Center in Bloomington and how seldom I took advantage of it.

Of course, all our lives change as we grow. Our needs change, our priorities change.

These days, I make the library a priority because I want the girls to know and appreciate how wonderful reading is. I love that Alyssa already know how to use the computer search system to find books based on subject, author or title. I love that she can actually write down the location and then FIND it all by herself. Even though she did once use this system to find a book about leeches, which had an actual leech on the cover. And it was as gross as you might imagine. And worse yet? The books next to the leech book? Were about earth worms. With worms on the cover. Oh, hell no. We do not go into that section anymore. Ever.

But really how amazing it is that we have a place where they actually let you walk in, pick out twenty books, takes those books home with you and it’s all FREE. It doesn’t get much better than that.