Do you remember your first trip to the library?
@macdingolinger (10386)
United States
August 31, 2010 7:28pm CST
I do! I was responding to another discussion and the memory just came back! I was walking through town and just happened to pass by the police station. Well, it was on one side of the building and the library was a very small room on the other side. It really was just a room and it was packed. I ran home and asked my mom if she knew we had a public library in town. She did not! After that I was hooked. It wasn't too long until they moved to a larger (much nicer) facility. I used to go there on Fridays and load up with like 10 books for the weekend. Then it was a frequent hang out during the summer months! I guess that's when I fell in love with reading.. how about you?
3 people like this
14 responses
@formidexo (1351)
• Canada
1 Sep 10
It was a long time ago. But I've always loved books and libraries because they were just loaded with so many books. I could spend hours just looking at all the books and then deciding which ones to take home to read.
2 people like this
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
2 Sep 10
That can be the most difficult part! I want so many, but know I don't have enough time to read them all! When I moved to Chicago I went to the Library to get books about hiking trails in the area. That was interesting.
@formidexo (1351)
• Canada
3 Sep 10
Yes, there are so many interesting books and it never ends so we do have to be selective as to what we will read and how much time we will spent reading.
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
2 Sep 10
That is awesome! It's a wonderful world once it is discovered!
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
2 Sep 10
I was a small child when my mother took me to the library for the first time. I think I was 4 or 5 years old, and I couldn't read, but I loved picture books. I picked the ones that looked interesting and when I got home my father read them aloud to me. I was really excited when we visited the library, because I wanted to find some of the my favourite books. I always wanted to borrow a lot of books and my mother had to stop me from emptying the shelves My local library had a pretty big area for children. I remember the decorations on the walls, the small chairs and the other things in the room.
1 person likes this
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
3 Sep 10
Awesome! Yeah, I loaded up on books too! I loved to sit and look through book after book until I found something interesting. I read all the Nancy DRew and Hardy Boys books back then!
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
3 Sep 10
Awesome! Yeah, I loaded up on books too! I loved to sit and look through book after book until I found something interesting. I read all the Nancy DRew and Hardy Boys books back then!
@bingskee (5234)
• Philippines
1 Sep 10
i do! it was during elementary days where a small library was in the middle of the ground facing the main building. it was an extraordinary feeling actually. for a girl my age that time, it is fascinating to discover books and what they have to tell me. unforgettable.
2 people like this
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
2 Sep 10
Yes! Isn't it wonderful? It's like being able to escape to another world just be opening the pages!
@jaypeesol (218)
• Philippines
2 Sep 10
My first memory of a library was the library in my elementary school, I was probably 8 or 9 years old. It was a private Catholic school, so the library was pretty neat and it was stocked with school books. I remember borrowing the big science books and taking them home. They were made of glossy paper and have lots of colored pictures. I was interested in Astronomy back then, and I love looking at pictures of the planets and reading about them.
1 person likes this
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
3 Sep 10
Sometimes we learn more about a subject when we don't have to learn the information! That's awesome that you still follow the topic!
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
2 Sep 10
That is awesome!! Are you still interested in astronomy? It is great discovering new things!
@jaypeesol (218)
• Philippines
2 Sep 10
I still read stuff and news about Astronomy, but when I was a kid I really wanted to work as an Astronomer or any job that study the planets. When I reached high school and started looking for universities I can attend, I noticed that I didn't know what specific degree I wanted to take that will make me an astronomer LOL. The closest I can figure out was Physics, but here in the Philippines, a degree in academics means you won't have a high paying job, which was also what I was after back then. So now, reading astronomy news is just a hobby.
1 person likes this
@babyimp (151)
• Estonia
4 Sep 10
I remember. My sister talked me into going to the library and making my own library card. I remember I being confused because the library was big and and I couldn't find the wardrobe (it was November and overcoats weren't allowed). I wouldn't say I fell in love with reading that day, but in a month I knew all about the the library building there was to know, including the books and their location in the library.
1 person likes this
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
4 Sep 10
That's an awesome story! Thanks for sharing it with us! The big question is if you still enjoy the library??!!??
@eden_shii (506)
• Australia
2 Sep 10
I was already in Grade 6 when I first visited a library. Well, I guess because I was in a small town and there was one library in school which was really small but with lots of old books. I was always intrigued to get in but I was just scared of the librarian. So, when I was in Grade 6, my teacher brought me to the library. I asked her if it is okay to read the books and visit the library as often as possible. And she said "YES". Since then, I always go to the library whenever my teacher goes to the library until I personally met the librariran which was in fact a good person (though she looked strict).
Since then, I go to the library and I also managed to find a bigger library in the city center and there, I spend much of my time reading and looking at old books and pictures. :-)
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
3 Sep 10
That is awesome! And you know the librarian can be a scary person! I guess it's because they lack people skills since they spend all their time with books instead of interacting with others! lol!
@thedaddym (1731)
• United States
2 Sep 10
I don't actually recall going as a child, my mom worked a lot and never took us. I remember the school library that is about it. I didn't really go to the public library until we moved to the city I am in now and my wife dragged me in. Then I realized I could get DVD's there for free so I started going there a lot more often it was maybe about 4 years ago that I really started to appreciate the library.
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
3 Sep 10
That's awesome that you finally discovered the library! It is a wonderful resource!!
@jlamela (4898)
• Philippines
16 Sep 10
Unfortunately, I attended a poor public elementary school so during my entire elementary years I wasn't able to see or go to a library, so the very first trip I had into the library was when I entered high school, because I spent my first year high school in a Catholic school with a spacious library, so that was it, I was amazed with so many books..hahaha!
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
1 Sep 10
I don't remember whether I visited the city library first or I went to my elementary school's library first. I remember going to children's story time at the city library and taking whole stacks of books home with me. I developed a brief aversion to libraries at that age. (At the time I was a slow reader and I wound up keeping books out longer than I was supposed to and getting fines.) I've since gotten over it, since I read books a mile a minute these days.
1 person likes this
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
2 Sep 10
I used to have fines out the back side too! Actually, most of the time libraries have a forgiveness day so that if you call or go in that day they forgive all the fines!
@olisaur (1922)
• United States
2 Sep 10
I don't remember my first trip to a library, but I remember the first library I ever went to. I must have been 5 or 6, and my mom started taking me every week or two to a little library branch outside in our neighborhood.
When I go there now, it's really small compared to other libraries, but back then i thought it was the coolest place ever.
1 person likes this
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
3 Sep 10
Oh yea, when I discovered it the first time I was just wowed by all the books! It was a great place and I would hang out there for hours!
@carpediem17 (1315)
• Singapore
16 Sep 10
hi macdingo, I definitely remember my first trip to the library, which was with my mum and sisters during the school holidays when I was about 8 years old.
It was definitely a godsend as there was a library nearby to my house and my sister and I (and sometimes with the neighbours in tow) will trot to the library to load up especially during the school holidays.
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
2 Sep 10
It's like a whole new world isn't it? I know how exicted I was when I discovered the library the first time! What a great place to hang out!