The Detective’s Daughter – For the Love of Libraries

 

Kim in Baltimore enjoying some quiet time.

I love my local library. We even have a cafe in the back. What’s not to love when you can read books and drink coffee surrounded by people who all enjoy the same things you do? There is not a time in my life that I can recall not being infatuated with the hushed cool rooms and the enormous shelves filled with books.

When I was a small girl, I spent some of the best moments of my childhood with my mom in the tiny library a few blocks from my house. I would sit at a table engrossed in the picture books Mom had helped me choose while she wandered the aisles selecting mystery novels to take home. My sister was not as interested in books, but did enjoy climbing and ended up with her head busted open on the library’s radiator. I have to admit it was more exciting than the book I was reading at the time. A real-life adventure.

By the time I was turning eleven, the Enoch Pratt had abandoned the old building for a brand-new modern branch a half block away. It was next to the High’s. Now library time always concluded with a scoop of ice-cream in a sugar cone for the walk home.

When my children were younger we spent hours in the library for story time, special events, and sometimes just to take a break in the air conditioning on a sweltering afternoon. Even now that they are grown they still want to accompany me when I take a trip to the library.

Over the past few years a great number of little library boxes have popped up in my neighborhood. My friend Kathleen, who is a librarian, built one in front of her house. The little libraries are such a wonderful gift to bring the community together. Seeing the colorful boxes has inspired me to build one of my own.

Libraries are filled with limitless possibilities, dreams and wonder. Support your local branch often.

Dear Reader, Do you make regular visits to the library? In what section of the library are you most likely to be found? Was going to the library a part of your childhood?