The New Library in Town
The library next to city hall where I’m from has honestly seen better days. It was small, a little cramped, and only the children’s section was the main section that was open every single time I went. Hell, I’d even go to say that the high school’s library was better than the actual town library. Y’know, the one library that a majority of the town couldn’t even access, which is the whole point of a library. So when I went off to college and came back home one winter to see it turned into a demolition site, I was taken aback to be honest.
Going to the library for a summer event was one of my first tastes of community. I remember getting my first library card quite vividly. My mom got a handout that I brought home from elementary school one day and it was promoting a summer event for kids. Being a 6yo whose home life mostly consisted of cleaning the house with my dad, I begged my mom to go with me and take me. I went to the summer event and the librarian convinced me to get my first library card.
Looking back, I didn’t use the library enough. My family couldn’t fathom the idea of me being on my own out in the world. I mean, I had my family at home. What other community would I need? But the years of not having the choice festered into how I’d eventually become a homebody and wouldn’t go out at all for the most part.
I think that was the trick all along. Having the choice to go out whenever I wanted. Now that I have that choice, I don’t take advantage of it enough. But hey, maybe once the new library is 100% moved-in, maybe it’ll be the third space I dreamed of. (Maybe with a cup of coffee from Dunkin’ of course.)
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