My cousin Dean is an amazing writer. After all, he’s a former reporter and editor. Today I got this amazing e-mail about libraries. He doesn’t mention the Save Our Libraries campaign. But we all know what it’s all about.
Enjoy.
Libraries are cool. That’s right, cool. I chose the word carefully.
They’re so cool that I’ve been a card-carrying member nearly my whole life. Chances are, you have been, too.
Growing up, I can remember riding my bike to the Upper Arlington library on Tremont Road. In school, I spent my free periods doing homework at the Academy library. At Northwestern, I studied for tests at the Deering Library, and on those occasional lazy afternoons, I found a comfortable cushion in the nearby Norris reading room, grabbed a magazine and let my intermittent snores mix in with the soft music piped in overhead.
When I was starting my journalism career and had to watch every dime (as opposed to now, when I just watch every dime), I spent many an off hour at the Palo Alto library, and then at the Presidio library in San Francisco, and then at the Pleasant Hill library, where I would splurge every once in a while and cough up 50 cents for a used paperback.
I still love the library. While in Sarasota, I routinely stop by the Selby or Fruitville branches to read my e-mail. Here in Cincinnati, I stop by between appointments; the librarians in Mariemont, Madeira and Blue Ash recognize me the moment I walk in the door.
Libraries just feel good. They have a cool aura. All those stacks of books and magazines are very cool. Lots of people come for the myriad activities, as well. I always joke that during the daytime, there are only three kinds of people there: Old men reading newspapers (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I count myself in this category), moms, and their pre-schoolers enjoying story time.
And despite the occasional crying kid (Shhhh!), it’s a pretty calm environment. That’s cool, too!
Libraries come in all shapes and sizes. The library I liked in college is a historic, ornate structure that could easily be converted to a beautiful church; it is complete with spirals and stained-glass windows. Curiously enough, it adjoins the much larger, newer library, which looks like it just landed from outer space.
Most of the branch libraries I frequent these days are modern, with vaulted ceilings and lots of open spaces. And when I sold real estate, I always thought it was neat to see the libraries people created in their homes. Some were formal, most were makeshift; it didn’t really matter. While holding open houses (ugh…), I’d peruse the rows of book titles to get a better sense of what my sellers were like.
Today, I count as a good friend someone who for years was a librarian at Lakota schools north of Cincinnati. She’s a very cool lady.
Our library system in Hamilton County this year has a cool reading club called Creature Feature for students on break from school. In each branch, kids can sign up and earn prizes after they reach designated reading levels. (My brother and I used to join a similar Summer Vacation Reading Club while growing up outside Columbus. I still remember our names scrawled on Browser Bear on the library wall.)
It’s a great way to encourage a lifelong love of reading — and learning. Kids who read a lot even receive colorful signs they can place on their front lawns so the world can see that “A Library Superstar Lives Here.”
When I first saw one of the signs on Euclid Avenue in Madeira a few weeks ago, I admittedly cringed for a second. The sign, obviously patterned after placards placed for years in front of homes of high school athletes, seemed like a well-intentioned idea, but I feared some may deem them as “kick me” signs for perceived word nerds.
That concern was obliterated a couple days later, when I saw a proud teenager walk out of the library on Miami Avenue, sign in hand. She looked quite happy, and I’m certain that the sign is now a distinguished lawn ornament.
Since then, I’m checking out more and more of the signs popping up in neighborhoods all over town.
And that’s cool. Very cool!
Dean
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