“Good morning, Mrs. Gasper! I will check to see if you have anything in.”
What sweet words! When I need to escape loneliness, when self-pity is knocking at my door, I grab my purse and head for the Parkdale Library. I don’t need a wallet for money; it’s where I keep my cheerful red library card.
I spent too many frustrated years stewing because I didn’t have time to read “just for the fun of it.” There are too many other materials I must read. I am past 80, and my blurry vision has made my reading slow. Like a lot of old ladies, I tend to fall asleep if I read too long at one time. But talking books!! Now these are fascinating teachers and companions for busy old people. Indeed, they are perfect for young people with far less time than I, because they fit into chunks of time sent driving, jogging, or doing “chores.”
The librarians seem to know what I like. They know when the tapes I have put on “hold” are in. In fact, they patiently showed me how to use the library website to select CD’s and tapes to put on hold. As they look at my account, they warn me that I ought to renew or return borrowed material. All this for free, (unless you count the 40-cent fine I run up occasionally). When I take time to read a magazine or glance at a recent book, my library feels like home,
Our five children are all addicted to reading. I love the way they discuss good books when they are together. I secretly credit the library in Neenah, Wisconsin for that. Every Saturday we would round up borrowed books, toss them into the “library basket” and spend a leisurely hour while each child selected his next batch of books.
The last time one of our foster sons stopped by in his gigantic “18-wheeler” on a cross-country run, I asked him if he still loved to read. He answered me by opening the door of the truck to show me six or eight books neatly arranged in his bunk. “I get ’em in the Green Bay library.”
The library is a friend, a teacher, a counselor, a mood lifter, and a powerful shield against the problems of aging. A friend of mine, who clerked for years in the mall, told me that many customers were there because of loneliness and unhappiness. How sad! They could be greeted by name at their local library, and take home a book that would cure almost any ailment. All for free!
