posted on 02 Dec 2015

The magic of libraries

I've mentioned before in other blogs on this site that I have very warm memories of visiting libraries as a child. Unlike Patricia Craig (see review of her recent book ' Bookworm' in the reviews section), who describes vivid memories of making her own way to her local library in Belfast from a very young age, I don't remember going there alone until I was about twelve. Perhaps I wasn't a very perceptive child as don't remember anything about the outside of the building in Saffron Walden, Essex where we lived, but I too have a strong nostalgia for the rows of  books it was possible to choose from at the library and the general atmosphere of reverent quiet cosiness that made it a very pleasant and special place to visit with my parents. I also remember the slight feeling of failure if I needed to renew a book rather than choose a new one because I hadn't had time or opportunity to read it. This means that I would usually devour four books every fortnight which seems quite a lot to get through for a child at Infants school. Or is it? I don't remember having homework at that stage of my education as children now seem to have from the age of four (sometimes even earlier). 

My next strong memory of a library is one in Alton, in Hampshire, where I spent my teenage years and which I used to visit regularly to research for and to do my secondary school homework. This wasn't an attractive building at all; a modern functional place but still warm, spacious and relatively comfortable. This was the time when I wanted something more grown up to borrow to read ( like the fictional Matilda ) and so waded through the melodramatic 'Jalna' series of books by Mazo de la Roche which followed the complex fortunes and disasters of a family over several generations living in a large house. All had a helpful family tree on the first page which I always like to remind me of who's who. I was also a big fan of the many books by Georgette Heyer and Jean Plaidy which gave me a very skewed view of history and romance. I don't like this kind of fiction at all now but I guess it played its part in building my more discerning tastes.

I used to take my own children to libraries occasionally in 1970s and 1980s but for some reason it was never part of a routine, which I regret very much. More recently I took my one year old grand daughter to her local library, an old fashioned solid building in a suburb of Bournemouth, light airy and welcoming. As we made our way to the children's area at the back of the adults section, I watched her evident joy at the atmosphere which reminded me about how precious a library is in a culture. I saw it afresh through her eyes and realised that even though modern libraries include computers and are often the site for services like job centres and local government facilities, books are still very much at the heart. 

She was clearly  overwhelmed at the  huge number of books on offer and kept bringing me more and more to look at. She is usually very keen to sit quietly and relish each one but this time she was so overcome with enthusiasm that she couldn't settle for more than a couple of minutes. She then wanted to explore the excitement of the many bookshelves in and beyond the under fives section. Off she toddled making gleeful sounds and pulling books randomly off the shelves as she went.

 Ok - so she needs a bit more training in appropriate library behaviour but her delight was palpable as she charged about saying ' book'. This is very promising so we will definitely try again in a couple of weeks and so help to build some positive memories for an experience that might not be easily available for many more years.

 

Karen Argent

1st December 2015

 

( The illustration is by Quentin Blake from the anniversary edition of Roald Dahl's Matilda )