My Love Affair With The Library
My Love Affair With The Library
By Tricia Goyer
I first fell in love with the library when I was in 6th grade.
My parents moved about two miles away from the local library and I would ride my bike there every day during summer. The librarians became my mentors and the books became my friends. I signed up for the reading program and made it my goal to read as many books as possible! I still have a newspaper clipping from when I was eleven and had a pile of books in front of me… I was the Reader of the Week and very proud!
I once learned that reading could be very dangerous.
I remember riding home from the library one summer day in 1982 with two large shopping bags of books on the handle bars of my bike. It turned out the books on the front were heavier than me. When I braked to go down this particularly large hill, I flipped over the handlebars. Ouch! Thankfully, I was okay. It certainly did not slow my love for reading.
With kids of my own, we go to the library once a week and check out PILES of books.
Sometimes I have to load the kids into the car and take a second trip to go back for the books. There have been times I had to make multiple book-carrying trips. Since we homeschool, I make library books the core of our curriculum. And you can bet I sign them up for the library’s summer reading programs!
When I got the idea to become an author I turned to the library for help.
I checked out books on writing and research books. I still do. I buy many books but I check out even more. The cool thing is, the librarians know me and they’re always asking what book I’m working on. They’re excited when I have a new book in print.
The most amazing part of my love of the library is that I didn’t grow up in a reading family. The library opened up the world of books to me. I don’t even remember owning any books as a child or being read to. If it wasn’t for the library, I’m not sure where I would be today… would I be an author and homeschooling mom? I doubt it.
So to all you librarians out there … thank you for all you do. You rock!
Resources
- Take action and support your local library! Click here to find your state’s Library Association.
- Find your nearest library on PublicLibraries.com
- Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird is a favorite book of writers throughout the nation.
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Beautifully said.I share your same passion for libraries.I hope my children will inherit this trait too 🙂
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I loved this blog post. As a librarian, thank you so much for wonderful message you have written. We love having authors make our libraries their home. Not only do we get first hand knowledge on the next book or books, we get to know the person behind the words that are written.
As an avid reader, it was the librarians in my life that helped steer me to this career field. As a child it always amazed me when I could walk in the front door of the library and the librarian remembered my name and had just the right book waiting on me. I probably drove them crazy because I would be back the next day for more books. I really kept them on their toes.
I learned early on how to speed read and it would drive my mom nuts too trying to keep up with my reading addictions. I have slowed down as I have gotten older, but I still read cover to cover in a day if at all possible.
Thank you for the wonderful stories you write and share with us.
Best Wishes,
Charlene
We love the library too! That’s the first place we find when moving to a new town. I have a secret wish that one of my kids would be a librarian, or an author, no such luck yet, but I still have 4 yet to discover their path in life so there’s still hope! 🙂
The library was my “best friend” growing up. I loved the adventures I took every time I read a book. I am still an avid reader today!