The Happy Homemaker

The library is the most fun place for me. I guess that makes me strange. I love going through the aisles looking at all of those books. They take to me places all over the world. I travel all through time. I see all sorts of political opinions. All of that knowledge just waiting for me. That is why I NEVER go to the library with friends. The library is seen as a “kid’s activity” not as a place for fun for themselves. It is no fun to tell a two year old for an hour to be quiet and read book after book to them. Reading the books is better at home. I keep the library as a place for adventure. A place to seek out unknown knowledge and adventure. My kids loved penguins so we looked around the library for penguin books. I don’t like to use the card catalog. I like to scan every aisle until I find what I am looking for. I end up finding books that I never knew were there. I did this so much in my university while I was working there, I could tell anyone where any book was. I am almost to that point in my local library.

We go to the library once a week. I give my kids time to look for books. Then, after they pick out books they come to “Mommy’s Side” and look at their books while Mommy looks for books for herself.  My children sometimes find really cool books on Mommy’s Side. Jon Jon found books on Dinosaurs and Victoria found an animal book full of the most beautiful pictures. Jon  Jon and I did this today. He picked out some Spiderman comic books and I got some Easy Readers for Victoria so that she could practice her reading. While Jon Jon was studying the pictures of Spiderman and the Green Goblin in their final battle, I was searching for books on the Byzantine Empire and historical theories. I found a social history on Pagan Europe and a book on the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson, one of my favorite writers.

Finally, when my book load became too heavy I went to check out my books. My dreamy adventure through the library quickly came to reality.  In the excitement, I realized I forgot my bag that had my library card and KEYS!! The librarian was nice and checked me out without my card. I quickly went to the car even though I had to use the restroom. (For some reason I ALWAYS have to use the restroom when  I go to the library, maybe it is the quiet that causes my bodily functions to relax) When I got to my car, my passenger door was open and my bag was on the seat. No one had touched it which should tell you about the neighborhood the library is in. Well, all was well and I quickly went home so that I could use the restroom.

I am now admiring my new books as if I just spent a day collecting sea shells on the beach. I can’t wait to read them and discover new worlds and ideas.

This is dedicated to my mother who taught me how much fun a library is.

Fun Fact: When I worked as a student librarian at UTC I was told by the head of the library that I should get my Master’s in library science because she felt I had a gift for being a librarian. That is the only time I was told that I had a gift for a certain career. Again, I blame genetics. My mother has been a librarian at the genealogical library ever since I can remember.  My passion is books and history. What are your passions? We can all guess what my mother’s is!!