A New Library to Haunt

The first public library I remember going to was the Mission Viejo Branch in the Aurora Public Library system. I'm sure it wasn't the first library I went to, but I don't remember much from before I was five.

Some clever soul created a huge (remember, I was five) paper mache dragon in the children's area, and I recall being slightly afraid of it by trying hard not to show it. This is where I was introduced to "Drummer Hoff fired it off," "Milk in the batter! Milk in the batter!" (Sendak's The Night Kitchen), and "The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another..."

Ah, those were the days. My love of libraries was cemented right there in the Mission Viejo Branch. They had everything: books on cassette, picture books, maps, encyclopedias, nice ladies who wanted to help me even though I was too shy to speak to them. If I remember correctly, they even had artwork you could check out and temporarily hang on your walls at home. The Mission Viejo Branch is also where I learned about swear words--they were etched into the bathroom walls.

Do you have associations between the books you've read and the libraries where you found those books? I associate The Brothers Karamazov and The House of Mirth with the Stockton Public Library. 19th-century romantic poetry belongs to the Pantego Public Library. Mikhail Bulgakov goes with the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library in Broomfield. And the Handmaid's Tale goes with the Golden Public Library.

Anyhow, since those days, the public library is one of the first locations I track down when I move to a new city. I don't feel I've truly landed in a place until I've scoped out the library, learned where the restrooms are, figured out where the fiction and non-fiction lives, and spent a few solid hours soaking up the ambience.

That's what I'm doing today in Leeds, UK. Just in case you're wondering, this library has been around since the 1870's, and there was a swanky party when it was first decorated. The architect gave the mayor a golden key that fit in the door, and then everyone toasted their good fortune at having such a library. As well they should! This place is amazing. While it's seen better days (a good once over of plaster and paint wouldn't hurt), this library is a wonder. It has soaring ceilings, columned arches, tile and wood mosaics, massive stairways, and loads and loads of really old books, as well as some new ones, too. 

It's going to be a privilege to read and write in this building for the next 10 or so months. It's also going to be entertaining. You never know what you're going to see in a public library.