An Attitude of Gratitude: Library

Reading has long been a passion of mine.  There is something about the written word.  It transports you to another place.  It deposits you at different times.  It challenges your beliefs and expands your mind.  Bible Study Mama was smart.  Buying books for a voracious reader gets mighty expensive mighty quickly.  Although she always bought me whatever book I wanted, she also took advantage of our local libraries.

We regularly visited the downtown library.  Let me tell you…it was not the fancy library that exists now.  Nope.  The elevator to the second floor was old…and scary.  It had seen better days.  But once I made it to the second floor, the doors opened up into a juvenile reader paradise.  I piled as many books as I could into my arms and hoped they would hold me until my next visit.

When I entered college, I became a member of the local library in Conway.  I kept the library tradition going.  I would peruse the shelves in search of new reading material.  Since I am such an avid reader, I would spice things up and pick books based solely on the cover.  I would not read the description or anything.  Just grab and go.  Some books were duds and others were treasures.  But it kept things interesting for me.

I have been a card-carrying member of the local library in every city and state that I have lived.  Because I learned that buying books was an expensive—and heavy—habit.  Walking into a library really is like coming home for me.  Listen…I am a full-on nerd and I happily embrace it.  I wonder who thought up the idea of allowing people to borrow books for free.  Whoever it was…I am grateful.  #wepreach