Kicking it old school

When I was a kid, I loved the library. We went on a field trip every year to the library, at least for most of grade school. Our library had these really cool murals, and this cool kids area with giant arches for the entrances. I remember browsing the shelves, and being part of a train on the tour of the library. I also remember the card catalogs and learning how to use them. One of my brothers would go in and check out every Dr. Seuss book on the shelf, or every Bill Peet book. Within a week, we'd usually read everything we'd checked out. I remember the yellow library card, the fish tank, and how exciting it was to go through the underpass on our way there (maybe that's really why we went to the library almost weekly during the summer--to go through the underpass!). I loved that library.

Sometime during my teenage years, our town built a new library. This one had a lot more open space for reading and studying, and of course had lots of computers. Gone was the card catalog. Gone were the murals and the cool arches. The books were all still there, but somehow it wasn't the same.

I have seen lots of other libraries since then. The local library where I did my undergrad, the university library where I did my undergrad, the university library where I did my master's, the library in Madison, Wisconsin, the local library where I did my master's. Let me tell you, the local library where I did my graduate degree? Tough to beat. Beatable, I'm sure, but it's a good library. Five branches, pretty fantastic programming, lots of resources. I imagine they have to be good, seeing as the university here offers a library science degree. I look at libraries with a little more discrimination now, and I realize how meager my hometown library is in comparison (seriously, their movie and audiobook collection could use some expansion, but that's just my snobbish opinion, and I do acknowledge that they probably know what their patrons need and want).

Granted, I now have a much better understanding of libraries, both from a patron's perspective and a professional's perspective, and technology has advanced and a lot has changed over the years, there is one thing that my first library had that hasn't changed much in any library I've been to. I don't know how to explain it, but there is a kind of magic about the library. Something about walking in and seeing all those books and feeling at home. I just hope that my hypothetical kids feel that same thrill  someday. Because that is really what a library is about.