Yesterday the subject of the children’s moment at church was the Library. The minister’s wife asked the children that had come forward how many had a library card. Not many raised their hand or otherwise signaled that they even knew what she was going to discuss. It brought back memories.
I remember the library in Pecos in great detail. I remember that set of stairs going up to those big doors. I can see the exact shelf where the Hardy Boy books were kept. I can also vividly see the card catalog. That place was magical. I can remember the day that my Mother helped me get my own card. I treasured it as much as any treasure I had at the time. It was probably replaced a number of years later by my driver’s license. However, I was not so happy to get my draft card.
My library is now Amazon.com. My book shelves are the 3 Kindles that I own. I find them much more magical than the old library. I remember the first Kindle that I purchased. The day after I had placed the order I realized I had not purchased any books. I got on-line and hurriedly bought 3 books, hoping to download them when I received my unit. To my surprise and awe I found that they had been downloaded to my Kindle even though the Kindle was in shipment when I purchased the books. That was little short of a miracle as far as I was concerned. I am never without one of them. I read while I eat at a restaurant if I am eating alone. I used to read while driving but Dorothy insisted that I stop that. I need a driver.
I dont think kids read as much now as we did in our formative years. I am not sure that they are even as inquisitive as we were. We had so much more to learn about. We didnt know about space walks, orbits, etc.
Now I have to decipher whether the latest letter from the widow women in Nigeria is really a legitimate damsel in distress that needs me to help her get $ 20 million in gold out of her bank account in Zambia or if it is a scam. How did she get my address anyway. Is helping her even legal?
I think I am going to just sit down a reread those Hardy boy books one more time. Hopefully some child will see me reading in the restaurant and ask his parents what I am doing.
Chuy the reader
ghomercowan 
I too loved that Library and find it sad that it is no longer in existence in our small West Texas hometown, especially since it was one of many made possible thru the generosity of Andrew Carnegie! Do admit my favorite selections of books were a bit different as read the entire series of Nancy Drew and also The Bobsey Twins among many other wonderful treasures! Thanks, Amy,for bringing back such memories of special times…
Your post brought back memories. I spent a lot time in the Pecos library. Especially my first summer there (’57). Hadn’t met anyone so I read a lot. Probably read most to the westerns they had. I would walk there from home on Nebraska street. It was quite a hike.
I still find the public library to be a magical place. Unfortunately, not many other parents remember the magic, so their children never get to experience it. What a shame.
When we came to Pecos in 1958 from Waterproof, La., I was thrilled to have a library that was in a building. My previous access to books had been through a bookmobile which meant that supply was very limited. One of the first thing I did in Pecos was to go to the library with Nancy Dean. We were thrilled when the new library was built so close to Hackberry Street.