Do You Remember Your First Library Book?

If you’re a reader, and over a certain age (like 35,) and if you started reading before the advent of Kindle and ebooks, chances are the first book you read, other than a school text book, was borrowed from a school library or the local lending library nearest your home.

Your First Library Book?

I know mine was. And, I’m pretty certain it was a book by Enid Blyton, the most prolific children’s writer in Britain when I was growing up.  It was most likely a book about Noddy and his friends although I’m also pretty sure I graduated very quickly to Blyton’s mystery books about the Famous Five or the Secret Seven, or those in the Adventure series. Do you remember your first library book? (If you do, please share by commenting below.)

Love Of Libraries

The reason I’m thinking about libraries this week is because it’s Banned Books Week, which is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association to celebrate the freedom to read, and to seek and express ideas however unpopular they may be.

It’s also because I just read the very timely article, Why We Need Libraries,  in the British newspaper, The Guardian,  by bestselling British author, Neil Gaiman with illustrations by British artist, Chris Riddell. The page below is from that article:

As you might gather from their article which I share in full, here, Gaiman is a big fan of libraries because, among other things, they create literate citizens.

My Second Home

I am a big fan, too. Libraries have played a big role in my life, for most of my life. As soon as I was old enough to walk to the library myself, I started reading grown-up books. And, speaking of banned books, I recall that Grace Metalious’s Peyton Place was probably one of the first adult books I read by checking out a copy from the library. (Do you remember the first adult book you read?)

I wasn’t sure, at first, if the librarians would let me borrow a copy without permission from my parents. Just as I wasn’t sure they’d let me check out copies of the Black Magic/horror novels by Dennis Wheatley. But I soon got to know that they would help with any book I wanted to read.

If the Ealing Public Library didn’t have it, they would send out a request to other London libraries, and it was a special joy when the mailman delivered the postcard informing me my requested tome was available for pick up. Below is a photo of the Ealing Public Library as I knew it.

This majestic Downton Abbey-style building housed the Ealing Public Library till 1984. It was a five minute walk from my home past Ealing Studios where they produced the famous/iconic Ealing comedies. The library was my second home during summer vacations while I was in grade school, and then in high school.

Library members were allowed to check out three books at a time. Summer vacations would find me returning every day to check out another three books. I was a speed reader who devoured books, and no vacation back then (not that we could afford any real vacations) could compare to the luxury of bringing my books home, spreading out a blanket in the back yard, and settling down to read over  a lunch of sliced apples( preferably sour Granny Smiths.)

Habit Of A Lifetime

I still belong to my local library, but I hardly ever use it these days. I’m fortunate enough to own shelves upon shelves of my own books as well as a Kindle full of titles which I have downloaded, sometimes just nanoseconds after reading a favorable review. Still, I could never have read all the books I’ve read in my lifetime without access to a library when I was growing up. And, I could never have discovered the joy of losing oneself in different worlds at the flick of a page. On that, I wholeheartedly agree with Gaiman that “reading fiction, reading for pleasure is one of the most important things one can do.”