Hey Blog! This time it’s about the library!
I have a thing for books. Having bought two and borrowed five the past two weeks I have spent nearly every morning so far with my nose buried in a book. Most I buy, from my selection of bookshops near me. However, recently I have got back into borrowing books, from the local library; I have started meeting friends there most weeks now, since it is a nice place to go, so I will be telling you about it later in the post. But first, some more on me and libraries in general.
When I lived in Barbados, I was small and raring to read. Once I had started reading, I wanted books all the time, and I was a regular at the public library. Unfortunately at that time, a child library card only borrowed two books, so I had to use Mum and Dad’s cards as well, if I wanted enough books to get me through a few weeks. Later, when we had come back to the UK, I started using the Belper library, which was a small cozy place, very serviceable for an eight-year-old’s imagination, and allowed me to borrow a lot more books! This is when I made the big shift from mostly reading factual books to mostly reading fictional books. But there was never much space in the library, so there was not as much to choose from. I found the delight of having your own books which you can read whenever you want, found Scarthin Books and the Oxfam Bookshop, the library closed to relocate a little down the road, and then came covid.
It took longer for the new library to open than planned, as it was moved to the same building as a care home. It wouldn’t be good if every Tom, Dick and Harry marched in to borrow books while transmitting deadly viruses. However, even if it took a while, the library is amazing. It is tall, airy, full of light and books, with much larger sections of different genres. Even better, it has a café attached, so we often go for lunch or a coffee and then to the library. When I do, I mostly read several books and then frantically borrow them just before it’s time to go, as I can’t read them all! This is the trouble with me and libraries/bookshops – I read most of the book before I borrow/buy it!
I can definitely recommend the use of a library. It is free – if not for the lunch at a café – and doesn’t clutter your house with hundreds of books (our house is nearly full, from my purchases!) because you return them before they get annoying by taking up too much space. I am glad there is one so near, and I look forward to using it still more!