As today is the anniversary of the first ever free lending library, I was prompted to begin this thread.
Libraries are very important to me.
As a child I loved books and reading. We didn't have a lot of spare money, and books were more expensive than they are now. No pound shops or charity shops!
My dad borrowed books for me each week and read to me at night until I was old enough to read alone.
I often got the bus into town to the library when I was old enough,and spent a lot of time there.
When I started at grammar school it took me a while to fit in. I had come from a very small private school, which ill equipped me for life at a bigger school (By the next year I had settled in and I had lots of school friends from them on)
At first I was lonely though and a bit scared, and the library at lunch times was my saviour.
Once I became a mum, once again the library was my friend. A husband who worked long hours including evenings, no internet in those days and very few TV channels. No money for books, so I was a regular at the library.
I took my children to all the story time and activity sessions at the library in the school holidays. Free activities!
When I moved here my GD was 16 months old. A village over 3 miles from town, I really missed being in town and all the things I could walk to with her. A few months later I found our local library. The storytime session happened to be on the day I had her, so we were regulars there for many years, and got to know everyone.
When my mum's eyesight deteriorated so that she could no longer read for pleasure, audio books became a lifeline for her. These I reserve online and collect from the library.
Our library had to close 2 years ago due to an unsafe building structure. Work is ongoing to move us into a new home.
Until then we have a mobile bus which stops in 4 locations around the village over 4 days. We are lucky to have this, but it has only a small percentage of the books a full library would have and has many problems for the staff, so we look forward to the permanent one opening. Hopefully Spring next year!
Libraries are very important to me.
As a child I loved books and reading. We didn't have a lot of spare money, and books were more expensive than they are now. No pound shops or charity shops!
My dad borrowed books for me each week and read to me at night until I was old enough to read alone.
I often got the bus into town to the library when I was old enough,and spent a lot of time there.
When I started at grammar school it took me a while to fit in. I had come from a very small private school, which ill equipped me for life at a bigger school (By the next year I had settled in and I had lots of school friends from them on)
At first I was lonely though and a bit scared, and the library at lunch times was my saviour.
Once I became a mum, once again the library was my friend. A husband who worked long hours including evenings, no internet in those days and very few TV channels. No money for books, so I was a regular at the library.
I took my children to all the story time and activity sessions at the library in the school holidays. Free activities!
When I moved here my GD was 16 months old. A village over 3 miles from town, I really missed being in town and all the things I could walk to with her. A few months later I found our local library. The storytime session happened to be on the day I had her, so we were regulars there for many years, and got to know everyone.
When my mum's eyesight deteriorated so that she could no longer read for pleasure, audio books became a lifeline for her. These I reserve online and collect from the library.
Our library had to close 2 years ago due to an unsafe building structure. Work is ongoing to move us into a new home.
Until then we have a mobile bus which stops in 4 locations around the village over 4 days. We are lucky to have this, but it has only a small percentage of the books a full library would have and has many problems for the staff, so we look forward to the permanent one opening. Hopefully Spring next year!
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