I love to read. I have always loved reading whatever I could get my hands on…a book or magazine…and let’s not forget blogs or Kindle books, etc. But to me, nothing beats the feel of a book in my hands…the sight and smell of a collection of wonderful books on a shelf. Ahhh…
Growing up, no one in my family shared my passion for reading; therefore I did not get much support. The nearest library was about 25 minutes away and Mother didn’t like to drive and would not take me. Therefore, the only actual library time I ever got was the rushed “Library Class” in school. The closest I came to spending time in a library was the weekly visit from the beloved Bookmobile!
A part of our county’s public library system, the Bookmobile would come to “remote” areas, like mine, that didn’t have easy access to any of their branches. “Bookmobile Day” was the best day of my week; especially in the summertime! I remember waiting at the curb for it every Thursday at 4:00 p.m. like most kids would wait for the ice cream truck. When it turned the corner to my street, I could barely contain my excitement! The inside was like a tiny library and I had a whole half an hour to peruse and carefully choose which books I wanted to borrow for the week! It was like Book Heaven for this nerdy little girl. But, alas…children were limited to choose only 10 books per week! Such decisions!
After I gathered my loot (sometimes barely being able to carry all of the books), I would run home directly to my bedroom, close the door and start reading until I was bleary-eyed, not even wanting to take a break for supper because it was such a waste of valuable reading time. I would usually finish all 10 of them in just a few days and have to suffer withdraw for the rest of the week until I could get more books. It saddened me that I never owned any books. It’s not because my parents could not afford them; we had a comfortable life with many extras. It’s was more like my parents didn’t see the need for me to own them and didn’t value my passion.
As an adult, I think its Divine intervention that even though I live in the boonies, I am only one mile away from a brand new public library. I love escaping to the library whenever I choose and no longer have to beg my parents to take me. Maybe this is why my son’s room, as well as other areas of my home, has always looked like a library with so many books. I don’t know who was more excited about the semi-annual book fairs at his school – me or Richard! Until he was a teenager and wanted to “decorate his own room”, I filled his room with a lot of “night-night” books that I always read to him, classic children’s literature, like one of my favorites, “Charlotte’s Web”, as well as some of the books I would buy to bribe Richard to read, like “Captain Underpants”. He obviously did not inherit my love of books.
Until five minutes ago, I had no idea what the Little Free Library was all about. Now I am in love all over again! Apparently, all over the country, people are building cute “Little Free Libraries” on posts in front of their homes. Children and adults can borrow, keep or donate a book, all free of charge! This is amazing! It encourages literacy, sharing, brain power, shutting off the electronics (yikes!) and reading a wonderful book! Check out their website for all you need to know – even how to build one – www.LittleFreeLibrary.org or their Facebook site. (I am thinking that one of these would make a wonderful Mother’s Day present for this Momma, don’t you? 
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Today’s discovery of the Little Free Library has just made this little nerdy girl blissfully happy in Book Heaven… all over again…
