Today I have been to my library to collect a book. I do love spending time in the library and miss being able to browse but the staff are so nice and very helpful in keeping me up tp date with their select and collect system and giving me new authors to try in the genre I ask for.
When I was a child yonks ago, our library was at the end of our road and I spent many happy hours in there, we were only allowed 3 book and I soon discovered I could not return a book on the day I had borrowed it, as we had paper tickets and they were only changed at the end of a day, so I had my own system to beat this. I would go in early in the morning during the school holidays or on a Saturday, choose 3 books, I did not get them booked out but chose another and sat all morning in the lovely art deco building which had a large childrens library and read all morning . I had to go home at 1pm as the library closed for1 hour so I carefully hid the book I was reading behind some other books, checked out my 3 books went home for an hour and then went back and finished the book I was reading!! I thought the librarian never knew but I bet she did as she was a bit of a tarter and had no loud talking only whispering in there. It was magic to me.
It was pulled down in the early 90s for an all singing all dancing up to date building but it does not have the soul of the old one. My mother lived in our house when the old one was built in the 1920s and was one of the first borrowers. I took her to the closing of it and to the opening of the new one where she borrowed books until she could no longer read them. I still go to that library when I take flowers to my parents grave as now books can be returned at any library.
Poppy has been snoozing on the settee whilst I have been reminiscing but I bet she will want her tea as soon as I get up from this computer🐨 Enjoy your weekend. Val and Poppy
I remember as a child joining the library, and I can just picture those paper tickets. My Dad was the reader in our family and I remember him taking my Sister and I to chose new books. That was a lovely old building with high ceilings but like yours was closed around the 1980's/90's and a modern Library built instead. The original Library is still standing, all boarded up, such a shame.
ReplyDeleteBoth libraries I worked in - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket were in old awkward to work in buildings - both were moved to new purpose built - After I left!
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