Comments on: Many Surprises

By: Ann Olander

Ann Olander — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:42:46 +0000

Oh my! You sparked forgotten memories for me, another bookworm. I walked with a load of books each week to the Putnam County Library in Unionville, Missouri, population, 2,052. Just like you, Carolyn, I checked out favorites over and over, some rather dog-eared, and many of those you mentioned. Your note triggered flashbacks, not just the library’s big- to-me, one-room layout, but the different streets getting there. I had to pass a below-ground tavern, and as I type, I can smell the stale brew wafting above. Often a pack of scroungy dogs hung out at the top of the stairs, where I hustled around them to reach the musty book-haven. Sometime I biked there, although I don’t remember skating. But yes, I had roller skates – the old kind with a key.

Flashing forward to child-rearing days, I loved reading to our kids, discovering old familiar books and many newer ones too. In turn, our children became bookworms. I’ll never forget overhearing our daughter, then about 8, tell her brother, 4 years younger, “One day you can read too, Doug, and all kinds of magical worlds will open for you.”

Because I grew up treasuring printed books, I question if I’ll ever own a Kindle – or get the same pleasures reading from it.

By: suecampbell

suecampbell — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:49:52 +0000

I barely remember the Carnegie Library on Euclid. It was a building that inspired awe. High ceilings and dark too dark for a library (but maybe that was basement I’m remembering). I do remember the momentous day I went to the adult section for my first “real” book. By the time I did that they must have lifted the ban to kids, because I don’t remember being scrutinized at check out time. I do remember the summer reading clubs though and feeling rather smug that I completed my list well before the other kids in class. What fun. I love the art in the Dick and Jane books. It’s so idealized. And oh so white bread middle class. Propaganda?

The steps of the Carnegie were a great place to watch parades!

By: carolynhayesuber

carolynhayesuber — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:42:44 +0000

Hi Garry! When I was finally allowed to go to the library by myself, a walk of what, maybe a mile? I was ecstatic — no longer did I have to wait to be taken when I NEEDED more books. I was probably nine or ten. My grand kids will never know that thrill of independence. I didn’t ride my bike — never very good at that. One dreadful time, I thought I’d skate (remember clamp on skates with a skate key ’round your neck?) but I soon gave up on the skating and carried my skates. Of course, the big problem was I couldn’t wait to start reading, so I’d open the top book on my stack and try to read it while walking home, often plowing into trees or tripping off curbs. I’ve clearly refined that technique since I can walk all over the Review-Journal campus reading my iPhone! When I was in high school, the “new” library was a great way to see and be seen by the guys I wanted to flirt with. I never ventured to the basement again until a few years back, when I began publishing history books and discovered the magnificent archives of the Model Colony Room, just past Dr. Seuss and the Velveteen Rabbit. C.

By: Garry Hayes

Garry Hayes — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:00:03 +0000

What a great testament to the power of reading! I remember spending a lot of time in the children’s section of the library in Ontario, in the new building, but still the basement! And I remember the musty smell of thousands of books! We were certainly the same as children with respect to the library. I had a bag that I hung on my bike, and I would go to the library and fill it with the books that had to last me for the week.