Piracy In the Library…But In a Good Way.
by Kate Rados
So, I was thinking about libraries.
Not sure what sparked it, though I think it was while I was cleaning out my wallet and saw my NYPL card. At any rate, the memory got me all sentimental-like and I want to share it here:
The Cromwell Public Library was designated to the second floor of a home on Main Street of the small town (Cromwell’s population was ~12,000 in the early 80′s). I remember walking up the creaky stairs to the main room with walls filled with books I was too short to reach and too young to read. In the center of the room was a large wooden toy pirate ship on a long table. The librarian greeted me and my Mom as I walked in and said that if I check out a book today, I can play the “Pirate Ship Game.” What? I can play in here?! The game was simple: think Candy Land, but on a ship. You roll a die for a chance to win a small prize – mine ended up to be a little Dum-Dum lollipop. I felt so special that day, didn’t want to leave the place, and all it took was a 25-cent piece of candy and a little personal interaction.
This is where the library used to be located. Just like back then, I kind of want to live here.
This really potent memory has me wondering: Does anyone else have these little stories? Do I hear a ‘Library Week at The New Sleekness’ theme? Feel free to share your memories in the comments. We’ll be sharing our stories throughout the week, so stay tuned.
Comments
I have similar memories of my little neighborhood library in Omaha. I used to go with my mom as well, but at some point I could go with just my sisters and the combination of being independent AND able to choose books to read on my own, was an incredible feeling of freedom. Nancy Drew and all the Oz series were on the top of my lists.I can still remember the musty smell, touching all the books and figuring out how many I could actually carry home. I recently took my husband to visit “my library” and it looked so small to me now – not as I recall it – being so grand.
As it turns out, I ended up getting a graduate degree in Library Science, which actually has much relevance in this digital age.
Thanks for starting this dialogue.
Laurie – I agree, it’s so strange to go back to places like the Library, your old elementary school, etc., and see the change in scale. Just looking at the pic of my old library, I’m thinking ‘wow – I thought that place was TOWERING!’
Also – you are spot on with the ‘musty smell’ – I could smell it as I was reading. Sense memories are powerful. Thanks for your note!
What a wonderful topic! My hometown library–the Callaway Library in LaGrange, GA–doesn’t exist any more. There was a clinic in the building for a while, and now I believe it is a school administration site.
I still feel such love for that library. The smell–yes! Musty could be a perfume. The big card catalogs that listed the books by subject and author and title. The shelves of mysterious adult books upstairs, where I wasn’t allowed to go. And my favorite part: the big card stamper. My library card had a metal ID # that was stamped onto the book’s card with a machine that made a wonderful thunking sound. If I ever find one of those machines at a flea market or junk sale, it is coming home with me.
Callaway had a fantastic summer reading program involving lots of competition and prizes and oral book reports. (Yes, I am still a nerd.) I always came in second place because I missed a week’s worth of reporting when we went on vacation. To this day, there has been no summer library program to compare. (The one at my local branch encourages the low, low standard of checking out two books a week!)
Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Can’t wait to hear others’ library tales.
[...] I was delighted to see Kate Rados’ little post about libraries, with an accompanying cute [...]
Stacy, thanks for sharing your story! And I will *totally* go in with you on that metal stamper. I’ve never been antiquing, but that would be the exact motivation to do so.
My first REAL job was at the Mt. Vernon Public Library, in Mt. Vernon, NY, mostly re-shelving books and helping patrons find their way around, and it was definitely an influential experience. I particularly remember we were paid less than minimum wage and they had some bizarre justification for it. Totally prepared me to work in publishing!
PS: My real first job was delivering newspapers; it’s clear I was doomed from the start.