Library Reflections

I grew up going to the library. I would ride my bike there after school and enjoyed story time in the summer. I was never a "reader". I hated reading. I was overwelmed by the card catalog and confused by Mr.Dewy Decimal. I rarely stepped foot in the library in college. If I did go there it was to get some reference books for an art project or to go study quietly in a corner. As a young married I went to the library purely for entertainment! Once I realized the library loaned out Videos, records, and cassetts, I was hooked! I NEVER entered the library to find a book for enjoyment. So that is why it surprises me today to see that I have become a person who LOVES .. and yes.. is a bit of a LIBRARY ADDICT!

My library experences seem to have come in waves. The first was when my oldest was a baby and I found out the library had "tot-time" or "Lap sit" as our Library calls it. This brought on many years of going to the library with all my kids and taking them to story time. Singing and dancing and enjoying the books that the sweet librarian read. The next wave came when we decided to home educate. I thought if anything else I wanted my kids to LOVE reading and LOVE the library. If I could accomplish that, I thought, it would be a great success.

So years have gone by and I have been falling more and more in love with our library. From the "Interlibrary Loan" Department, where you can request books they dont have locally and they will get them for you from libraries far away. (One I picked up today came from Virginia!.. whoo hoo!). To the librarians who help find what we are looking for and give my kids hugs when we walk in the door.

We can literally get lost in a sea of Library learning as soon as we walk in the door, loose track of time and all of a sudden wonder why we are so hungry! Well.. its because we have been there for three hours! :)

Why am I telling you this.. well.. today I had another great memory at our library.

I have been pondering what to use for Cats Grammer Curr. and found "The Little Brown Handbook" online at our local libary.. (This is a book that I remember having to use while in college.. and .. as you can probably tell by my grammer.. I need a refresher course as well!) I will probably use part of this book as a base for her Grammer Studies..

ANYWAY..

The kids were sitting quietly at a table looking at books, (please note we were down stairs, a place that you rarely see kids.. but cause it is NOT the KIDS section! ) ..

They were having such a wonderful time that I decided to just take a look around.

I came upon a section of History and Poetry. First I found a book titled: "Vergil's Aeneid" Grabbing it I walked as quickly as I could and held it up for the kids. (mind you this book is about 3 inches thick) .. The kids read it and said "OH..Arma virumque cano....Of Arms and the man I sing!.. Thats the book it comes from!" I said YES! isnt this cool!
I put it back on the shelf and then noticed another "Book of the Dead" .. I took it off the shelf and held it up to the kids.. Cat said.. WOW .. thats what the Egyptians used as a guide in their mummifying!" I showed them how it was a whole book with Heirogliphics and English translation! "LETS GET IT MOM! " was the reply! (I decided not to because we had so many already).. I went back to the shelf and found a whole section on Emily Dickenson! (SWEET! I thought) and then a book entitled "Latin Poems from the Beginning to the Renaissance" I was so excited to see this title but was suprised to find it contained zero latin.. it was all just Latin poems translated to English..

but oh well.. you cant have everything! And of course there is ALWAYS interlibrary loan!


So.. What a wonderful time we had at the library. I left with a sense of awe at the wealth of knowledge that is to be had there.. To think .. all those years spent in the library and I was only there to get copies made, get visuals for artwork, or study in the quiet! Who knew there was a treasure trove of knowledge just waiting quietly for me to discover it!


If you find yourself in a rut... head to the library, find a corner you have never been to.. you might be surprised what you might find! And your kids will catch your love for the library.. I promise!