My life in the library
When Dave asked me about my own early experiences with the library, it took me back. All the way back to the Somerset County Library in Princess Anne. We didn't have any fancy-schmancy two- and three-storey libraries there, either -- every book that Reading Rainbow's Lavar Burton urged me to read was right there in the little brick building.
In fact, sometimes I would practice my own Reading Rainbow spiel. Man, I would have been good on T.V.
I also remember, in fourth grade, being completely appalled when someone had whited out all of the curse words in my elementary school's copy of Marc Talbert's Dead Birds Singing. If that was any of you, I'm still miffed.
Anyway, later on I even volunteered at my middle school library. True, it was an easy way to get out of the classroom in the middle of the schoolday, but I was always the first to know when the new books were in -- a perfect situation.
While she always preferred The Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew, 
Comments
Did you have a Bookmobile? On the military bases I grew up on, we had a main library and a Bookmobile, an old ice cream-looking truck painted in rainbow colors, that would come by the neighborhoods on certain days of the week. It had the newer, "hipper" books I sought: namely, "The Baby Sitters Club" and "Sweet Valley Twins." I heart the Bookmobile and would welcome one now.
Posted by: Mary | September 8, 2008 1:55 PM
One of less intelligent moments in the library was working of my first "research project" in middle school.
My mom told me to go check out. Soon she had trouble finding me at the exit of the library where she was expecting me.
I was however sitting comfy in a chair dutifully scanning or "checking out" the books I selected to make sure they would work for my project.
Needless to say I soon found out what checking out a book really meant...
Posted by: Pat | September 9, 2008 12:58 PM