Rediscovering old favorites

After my last post, I began thinking about all the behaviors that could be incorporated into my daily life and it made me start to remember all those "sustainable" things I used to do, before anyone was even using the word sustainable. I am an avid reader, have been since I was a little girl and I remember how every summer I would pester my mom to get us over to the library so that I could sign up for the summer reading program and win prizes that probably included things like a free ice cream cone from McDonald's. While the prize was fun to get, the real motivation for me was in reading books. How many books could I read? Would I find a new favorite in the pile of stories I was about to delve into? And, while I read all throughout the year, there was something unique and special about the summers and those reading clubs. Somewhere along the way, I grew up, got a job, had money and found the bookstore so much easier and more convenient than the library. I grew my collection of good (and a lot of bad!) books and periodically would gather up those that were collecting dust and drop them off at Goodwill, getting my donations receipt for tax purposes. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, I was in need of something to read and headed to the bookstore to grab a few books. Now, I love the bookstore, I love perusing new, undiscovered authors and could spend hours walking the aisles, exploring new books and ideas. Bouncing from fiction to cooking and over to travel was all part of the experience and one that I never liked to miss out on - I am not a run in, pick up a book and check out kind of bookstore girl!

But I started thinking - why did I stop using the library? When did I convince myself that in order to read, it had to be with a new book from the bookstore? So, I went to the library and got myself a library card, something I have not had in about 15 years. I had to look up where the library was (just a short walk from my house actually) and figure out when it was open (longer than I expected) and I went and got my library card. And, you know what I found? I found a great resource that I have not been taking advantage of. The library is way more convenient than I ever realized, with online reservation of books, telling me exactly where I am on a wait list and the ability to pick up the book at my branch of choice. And the activity in the library - wow, I felt like I was the only one who had forgotten about the library when I walked in and saw all the people there! It was as though time had transported me back and I remembered that feeling of going to the library and getting my book stamped with the recognitition for the books I read and it made me realize that, sustainable practices aside, I liked the feeling of going back to something that had been the place of so many happy memories for me. And, next time I get the urge to spend hours exploring books, I have my library card in hand to do just that.

I am never going to be a Kindle kind of girl - while I can appreciate all the arguments for being able to carry 500 books with me and the convenience of zoom in to make the print larger, I would miss the feel of a book in my hands, the smell of the pages and the familiar sound of those pages turning as I get lost in the stories. But I also don't know if buying a book every time I want to read is the best way either so it's back to my childhood and back to the library. I am even thinking about starting my own summer reading program - maybe my prize will be a bookstore purchase but more than likely, it will be an ice cream cone!