Why I Love Libraries – Mary Grand
“I have found the most valuable thing in my wallet is my library card.”– Laura Bush
It was a Saturday morning, and I was signing books, laughing, chatting. It wasn’t a large library, but it was buzzing. In one area children sat playing with Lego, others lay on bean bags reading. From the ceiling hung enormous paper butterflies that had been made in a craft group during the week.
I was surrounded by shelves full of books. A woman, her shopping bags resting on her feet, quietly, but earnestly was looking through the books. An elderly man chatted to the librarian as he slowly took books out of a well-used carrier back and placed them on the counter. Behind me, at the back of the room sat a student with headphones on, studying, using the free Wi-Fi.
“Libraries always remind me that there are good things in this world”. – Lauren Ward
I’d not visited a library for a while, but it was like coming home. My parents took me when I was a child. I, in turn, took my own children. Before they started school, on a wet Friday afternoon, we would go and snuggle together on the comfy chairs, read books, borrow the ones they’d enjoyed. Sometimes we’d also borrow a DVD or audiobook. It was the ultimate, free, all weather attraction!
Libraires now have eBooks, large print books and my new love, audiobooks. I am so excited that my new book, “The House Party”, a gripping suspense filled mystery set on the Isle of Wight, is available in libraries in all formats, including audio and large print.
Libraries celebrate community, equality, diversity. Anyone of any age, any background can join, and it is free. A place of free books, internet access and Wi-Fi, a quiet place to sit and study, read, rest.
“When I got my library card, that’s when my life began.”– Rita Mae Brown
To have access to this ocean of physical books, eBooks, audio books, and so much more, all you need is a library card. It is free, it is available to every single person in the community. As David Baldacci said
“.. libraries are full of ideas and differences of opinion; all the things we say we want in a free and open society. So, keep ‘em, fund ‘em, embrace and cherish ‘em.”
