by compound complex 23 Replies latest jw friends
Were visits to the library an important part of your childhood?
Does visits to the kingdom hall library count also?
I hated the visits there - because there were mostly blows on my buttocks.
I had a library pass when I was little. I regularly borrowed books about forgotten cultures there. Later also books about how to cheat on class tests. I couldn't take these books home with me and then I read them on the spot.
Were visits to the library an important part of your childhood? - not really but books and reading certainly was.
My dad bought be my first animal encyclopaedia when I was 3 or 4.
I go to my local library fairly regularly, and when I pick up something of interest and start reading - well, a few hours can zip by.
I picked up Hannibal Rising, by Thomas Harris, and after several hours I'd read about two thirds of it!
When I was young I always did the summer reading programs at the library. I loved study halls in high school because you could go to the library. And now I go to the library weekly, I love to read.
Raised in Riverside, California in the 1950s and 60s, I regularly visited the downtown library (also originally financed by a Carnegie grant). The old library was a classic in every way and was located between the historic Mission Inn and the Riverside Community Auditorium (a site for most annual JW circuit assemblies for that area).
I got my love of books from my mother. My dad was not a reader, nor were any of my relatives on his side of the family. Besides my mother, my aunt "Jerrie" (Geraldine), who was not a witness, but perhaps the smartest member of my family. Jerrie would sit down with a cup of coffee and the New York Times daily crosswords and blitz through them all before her coffee got cold. I loved when we visited her. I asked her how she became so proficient in words and puzzles. "Went to the library almost every day. Looked up something new in the dictionary or encyclopedia before I went to bed every night. It's easy if you just stay on top of learning something new and looking up what you don't know."
While far from being as skilled with crosswords as my aunt was, I still remember many facts that I learned while visiting the library as a child and many of them have stayed with me throughout my life. Although I have owned a copy of "The Two Babylons" by Hislop since I was 15 or 16 years old, I still refer to it every so often (more for entertainment than for historic facts), I see that there are copies still on Amazon.com. Most of it has been discredited or challenged, it's still a good read for entertainment. And my first exposure to it was the local library.
That's why I strongly suggest that everyone living in medium to large cities continue to visit their local libraries. Some cities without libraries have state universities nearby that will sometimes offer access to local citizens.
I definitely count my love of books and history to my being allowed by my parents to read anything I wanted and to go to the library anytime. I am fortunate to live in my state's capital city and am just 50 miles from Portland, also home to some excellent libraries and bookstores to go rummage through.
Carnegie was not a saint by any means, but like a lot of multi-millionaires of his time, he did finance and fund some projects that have survived to our day. If you have one in your area go visit it and pat the door on the way in as you whisper "Thanks, Andy, for the very nice gift to us all."
JV
COCO:
Yes, I had a library card at an early age. I always loved books and still do!
I was a voracious reader. The library was my sanctuary. I had to ride my Schwinn stingray bike almost three miles to get to the library. after spending the day Saturday reading there, I checked out as many books as allowed and devoured them when I got home. (Over the next few weeks). Invariably I had over due fees. My mom was livid. She would drive me to return them and I would get more. I loved biographies! Not bad for 11 and 12 years old. My fascination with short stories and science fiction was huge. When in Jr. High I would cut Spanish class to go to the library and read. I read Alas Babylon about a survived nuke war between the USA and Russia. How I loved the double volume of When Worlds Collide & After Worlds Collide. In 7th grade I read A Clockwork Orange, (not allowed in the library by the way.) What a rebel.
I am truly whelmed over!
Thank you, SBF, Bill C, jp, Xanthippe, Jeff, fast J, LUHE, just fine,Juan V, LHG, and Wasa. And any others whom I might have missed (sorry).
I am a very slow and unskilled typist, making detailed replies to all of you nearly impossible. Weird -- a pianist who cannot type. Yet, I relate to so much of what you have written, my having been a child of the '50s.
I devoured everything as a child and took notes on what I read, dictionary at the ready. That has led me, in my dotage, to much satisfying work as an editor (aka Grammar Nazi).
Blessings and Peace.
Yes indeed. The little library in our village was quite forward-thinking to as you could also rent music records and tapes (and later CDs), including language learning media. We also regularly used the library for school assignments and were allowed to study in there (as it was obviously much bigger than the in-house school one.)
As I come from a family of avid readers, the library has always been part of my life before the Internet age. Now I read everything on my iPad or Kindle. Still love the feel and smell of an old book though.
I loved to read, but as we lived in Bumblefuck with only one Stagecoach a week, visits to the Library were hard work when I was really young.
My parents had a small collection of books containing a number of late 19th century works, a complete collection of Dickens, which I now have on my Library shelves, and a few Novels. I got a taste for these, Captain Mariatt, Jack London, R.M Ballantyne etc etc and eventually I used to borrow more works by these Authors from the Library.
When I was Ten I discovered The Saint series by Leslie Charteris, and read all of them, this started many decades of reading Thrillers only, I realize now I should have mixed in a few more Academic works ! I did go and simply read more learned books in the Library during my Teens. Quite often this was when I was being truant from school, I thought I would gain more from the Library than they were teaching me at School.
Libraries are the most wonderful places, and we must fight to keep them open, On-line stuff is convenient sometimes, but the Serendipity of finding new, wonderful books happens best, and frequently, in Libraries.
YES!!
I didn't go to our towns public library until a 4th-grade school trip there.
I loved the school library, but my parents were not really interested in my education.
When I was old enough to ride my bike, I was there all the time.
Not only was it this place of discovery, and new worlds, it was a place where I could meet with my friends and play games without "big brother" watching.
We would play role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, and Traveler.
Some of my happiest memories as a kid was being in my town library.
Today, bookstores and libraries are my favorite places.
