Well, maybe not love, but I do really like browsing the aisles of our county library branch….
Perhaps, it’s just that libraries are essentially sacred places to me….
My kid-visits to the library always seemed like out-of-body experiences. Our library was in an older building,* perhaps 50-60 years old at the time (so not so old, just older than my home, school), and it had a specific smell, not musty, not unpleasant, just distinct. Sounds were different there, muted, although it had a tile floor that echoed footsteps beneath a high ceiling in the main rooms. And we got to take books home…where they had a special shelf, I guess so Mom could keep track of them….
* A bit of Google-action suggests the building in my memory is still standing and still the town library.
15 May 2009 at 7:29 am
kayak woman says:
Our old library was a Carnegie library with big lions out in front. The kids’ section was in the basement and the kids’ librarian was Bobby Kreager (not sure of spelling) and I can still remember her voice. My rather eccentric great aunt worked there for about a billion years.
I’m pretty sure the building is still there although the library moved to a new building and is now called Bayliss. I can’t find a good photo on-line, guess I’ll have to take my own next time I’m up there.
15 May 2009 at 7:31 am
kayak woman says:
found a picture
15 May 2009 at 9:00 am
Sammy says:
Love postcard pictures made like that, with the desired details highlighted and the uglies removed….
15 May 2009 at 10:51 am
kayak woman says:
Well, you can bet I’ll get my own photos when I’m up there next week 🙂
16 May 2009 at 4:57 pm
Sammy's second cousin says:
Libraries, like museums, are indeed sacred places. The hushed tones might have something to do with it.
Since my local branch of the county library dates only to 1991, I don’t have a postcard picture, just an aerial view from Google Earth. While I wasn’t inside the library when the picture was taken, I am there right now while I’m typing this.
16 May 2009 at 5:01 pm
Sammy's second cousin says:
Yes, I goofed up. You’ll have to click on my handle to see that Google Earth view.
Oh, yeah, my other library is about 20 miles away; it’s called the Library of Congress. I go there for items I can’t find here.