Today I decided to take the next step in my Spring Cleaning. (I want to get it done before Spring lures me outside every day.) I have been back at unpacking and putting away and came across the problem of more books than shelves again. It seems right to find a good home for my duplicates (check your emails for more on this), and I am not a seller of books. I thought about Tricia's blog on the library used book sale and remembered that I used to do something with this in San Ramon when I was in AAUW. So I trucked on down to my local library.
The new building was dedicated right after we moved here, and is beautiful although impossible to get to conveniently. I drove around the block and some back streets and over the railroad tracks until I found a barricade with "Street Closed" on it and a little sign with an arrow indicating the closed street was now the library parking lot.
When I finally walked in, it was nice and smelled like the library I used to escape to when I was in high school and could talk my parents into letting me drive to the library by myself. (More on this in the sequel.) I walked around a while and watched people enjoying the quiet reading places and the "Pennsylvania Room" full of historical items and genealogy treasures. I spoke to a nice librarian who assured me they would accept donations "but only a few at a time, because there is just not much room." I promised to bring in only a few at a time and to make sure they were in excellent condition.
As I drove home (without getting a library card), I realized why I don't do libraries--YOU HAVE TO RETURN THE BOOKS!! Once I read a book, it becomes a part of me and I can't just give it back. So, I will share and donate duplicates, but every book in my library is either already a piece of me or will soon be.
2 comments:
Thanks for supporting your local library!!
I love how books can become a part of you, they carry a geneology, of sorts, the really good ones, anyway, imbued with the places and people in their past.
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