Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Library

I love our local library. But really, who doesn't appreciate the beauty of books? I love to look at the stacks in the Library and observe the books themselves. Which books seem most loved? Where are the newest versions? Who would check out a book about christmas tatting ornaments for an elderly couple from the AFC west?
I love the diversity found in the library reading rooms.
The children in the kids section: babies, toddlers, crazies, and grade school-ers.
The pre-teens in the "chapter book" section. Sometimes I actually see a lone teen-ager meandering through the aisles, looking for "that book that one girl said was, like, pretty good... um, Twilight?"
I love to see the adaptive adult class working on the computers- they are much better at navigating the Library comps than I.

But who doesn't also love the idea of having one's own library? A refuge from the storm. The rock of knowledge in an increasingly fragile world. History makes mention of some of the most important, well cultivated, incredibly beautiful libraries. The Library at Alexandria, pre-fire of course, stands as a prime example.
 Oh to have sat in that library.
There are other great examples of libraries that were not destroyed: the New York Public Library is one of the greatest in the world. Should I ever go to the big apple, I would want to spend a great deal of time in their magnificent library.

But this is a fantastic library too: The Prague Baroque Library.
I love everything about this library.
Except for one thing:
I cannot fit it inside my home.

Which I think is a shame.

1 comment:

Rice Family said...

Once I found a book for Scot about the history of the world written by examining food. I was just wandering with L and the title jumped out at me ... I heart libraries! They smell like old books!