Happy 4th, WriteByNighters!
I remember standing in front of the fiction section at my school's library as a ninth grader, nervous as hell, but on a mission to choose a book by this Stephen King guy some of my friends had been telling me about.
I didn't want to look like a coward, but neither was I sure I was ready to step into adult horror fiction.
After all, only a couple of years earlier I spent most of my school library time scanning Choose Your Own Adventure titles. (The Mystery of Chimney Rock was my favorite. What was yours?)
And only a couple of years before that, I was cycling through my school's catalog of Hardy Boys books.
I remember the layout of every single school library from my childhood. I can walk into that elementary school and take you straight to the Hardy Boys shelf; straight to the CYOA shelf in middle school; straight to K on the fiction wall in high school.
Hell, I can still feel the adrenaline rush as I pulled The Shining off that shelf.
Somewhere in post-K-12 life, the enchantment of the library wore off. I blame college.
How about you? Were you enchanted with libraries as a kid? Are you enchanted with them as an adult?
These days, my local library is just a place I walk past every day. Every now and then I'll drop in for a quick visit, but only if I can't find a specific book at a bookstore.
I love libraries, but they don't play a large role in my life anymore. They're mostly a source of nostalgia.
What is your current relationship with libraries? What is your past experience with libraries? Do you have a favorite library memory?
