Wednesday, June 20, 2012

LOVE & MURDER

Tragedy & Triumph @ the Library



Posted by Teresa Slack—


                                                    www.teresaslack.com

I fell in love with my local library in elementary school. In those days there were no summer reading programs or high speed internet connections. Sports teams, authors, entertainers, and representatives from the local zoo didn’t visit. That didn’t stop my sisters and me from trekking across town nearly every day in the summer. The library was an oasis, a sanctuary. Our town library was tiny, but to me it was a paradise of fantasy worlds, mysteries, romance, and untold riches. Back then you were given a green library card on which the librarian wrote the index numbers of the books you checked out. I lost track of the number of new library cards I was issued after filling up my old one.
If there's anything more symbolic of the love of knowledge and freedom of information than the public library, I can't think of it.  A place where you can walk in, pick any book or movie and walk out without paying a cent! It’s a wonderful location and one that is never used enough.
If you’re a follower of Writers Rest, you are probably a lover of books and your local library as I am. I think we authors love it even more than the average bear.  
What is your fondest memory from the visits to the library? 
I’ll never forget the day I got locked in the restroom in my library.  Of course that wasn’t my favorite memory. My favorite is leaving school every day at lunch in junior high and running across the street to get a book to read that day in study hall, which was conveniently right after lunch.
Maybe I should’ve used that study hall for studying. At any rate, what’s your fondest memory of your library? How has your library and its amazing staff served you through the years?
P.S. I am currently on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean so I’ll check your comments next week. But as you can imagine my beach bag is bursting with reading material, thanks to my local library.  

P.S. 2 (From Molly)  
Speaking of books. Here are some of Teresa's. To find all her books, write Teresa Slack in the search slot at walk-in and online bookstores.   















2 comments:

Molly Noble Bull said...

Thanks for a great article, Teresa. Have a great summer everybody, and don't forget to read.
Love,
Molly

Connie Almony said...

My favorite scene in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast is when the Beast gives Belle his library. There's a man who knows what his woman wants ... and gives it to her. I could relate to the awe in her eyes as she scanned the possibilities among the stacks of bindings before her.