Happy Tuesday!!
Below first appeared on my friend’s blog: BEWARE OF THE READER.  She featured different people from the book community.  Below is what I contributed.  To see it on Beware of the Reader site click here.

FOR THE LOVE OF LIBRARIES

I love going to our local library and browsing the shelves.  When my kids were little we went at least once or twice a week.  The librarians all knew our names.  Remember the old TV show – Cheers – with the saying “Where everybody knows your name.”  That’s was what it was like when we’d come into the library.  It was like we were local celebrities.   *lol*

 Our library’s policy is you can check out as many books as you want.  Which meant our house was covered in BOOKS.  My kids loved having me read to them but as they became teens only one continued with the love of recreational reading.   The other two got involved in sports and left reading by the wayside.  Now, on our family road trips, they consist of listening to audiobooks.  We still talk about our vacation where we listened to Me Before You.  Spoiler alert – we laughed through the majority of the audiobook but there were tears shed too.   

Above is an image of our main library.  We actually go to our neighborhood branch because it was within walking distance of our house.  Even though we could walk to it we normally didn’t because there’s no way we could carry home all the books my kids would check out.  

And who doesn’t love the Summer Reading program the library offers?!  Our library even has an adult Summer Reading program where if you write reviews of the books you’ve read you’re entered into a weekly drawing for a chance to win a gift certificate to a local business.  I participate each year and I’ve yet to win but you know what I’ll be doing this summer – reading and reviewing.

One of my favorite things I love is when I go to the library and find a Lucky Day book that I’ve been wanting to read.  Lucky Day books are extra copies of popular books that you can check out immediately.  No putting it on hold and waiting for months for your turn to read it.  First come, first served. I will admit it feels like I’ve won the lottery when I find a book that I’ve been wanting to read and it has the Lucky Day sticker on the book spine.  Anyone else’s library have this feature?  

Another thing I love about the library is the architecture.  One thing I do when I visit a new city is to find the library so I can see how it’s designed.  I’ve never been to Kansas City but my blogger friend, FMA, pointed out this library a few years ago to me and now it’s on my list of MUST SEE LIBRARIES.

Finally, I love that libraries make it so that their patrons can borrow books for free.  Reading can be expensive if you are a bookworm who can read 100s of books a year.  Libraries are one way to feed a readers desire to escape into another world. I know the book world has changed a lot in the last 6 years but there’s still something special about going to the library and walking through shelves filled with books looking for that perfect book to take home.   

Happy Month of Love!