The Library

Every Wednesday, I bring Hunter and Grace to the city library.  I signed up Hunter and Grace for the summer reading program.  Hunter is a fantastic reader for five years old.  Grace will reading soon--just wait, she won't let her brother steal all the limelight :)  They are great at the library.  Grace runs and tries to pick up as many as her arms can hold.  You can bet that there is a book about a cat somewhere in the stack!  I have to remind her, "Only five books, Grace!"  She doesn't like that rule too much but knows there is a space limit in the book bag.

Hunter will take his time, find one book and sit down at the little table and start reading outloud.  Grace will join him with her books and pretend to read.   I have to remind them to whisper.  People walk by and take second looks at both of them reading and you can bet their Nana is standing there beaming.  When Hunter is done with his book, he will read one of Grace's books to her.  He gets a star on his log for every 20 minutes he reads.  After so many, he gets a new book (thanks Thriftway for donating them).

When I watch them, I am reminded of the many times my brother, Jim, and I went to the library.  We would get up early and walk there.  It didn't matter how far it was, we walked anxious to check out  books!  We usually stopped at the base snack bar and got a cherry coke first.  We drank it down and headed for our destination.  I don't remember what books Jim checked out but for me it was Nancy Drew or Perry Mason.  Loved those mysteries!  We would lug back several books in our arms--no backpacks in those days!  Sometimes the stack was pretty high.

Books were our treasures--an escape into another world.  Sometimes I would pickup medical books, I wanted to be a nurse in those days.  Science, astrology, art, medicine and mysteries were what I loved to read.  The quiet of the library and all those books--I was definitely a bookworm in my youner years!  Come to think of it, I still am.

When Alison was in the 1st grade, her teacher said that she was behind in reading.  That summer I signed her up for the summer reading program.  She read 27 books that summer!!  And brought her level up to 3rd grade--her teacher was really impressed!  So you can see how valuable and rewarding reading can be.

It is a small legacy to leave to my grandchildren but one that can prove to be a valuable investment in their future.  Maybe they will look back and remember their Nana taking them to the library when they were little.... and smile.