Smiley Library

I am quite passionate about reading, which may sound strange considering that I, like many of my classmates, was raised surrounded by the latest and greatest technology. Household electronics such as TVs, computers, and radios could not compete against a book for my attention. I'm not quite sure how I became interested in reading, but I have been told (as I don't remember it myself as I was too young) that I refused to pick up a pencil to draw something, and would, instead, grab a book, and do a picture walk. I was overjoyed when I began elementary school, and I was finally learning to read. My favorite day of the week was Friday, because we would go to our school library to choose a book we would read the next week. My teachers had a difficult time getting me out of the library, as I could never choose just one book; they all seemed marvleous. Eventually I would have to do "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe" to choose my book. I could not say, "Libraries were what influenced me to read books," becausee then I would be lying. I believe that I became interested ("obsessed" would be a more accurate description) in books due to the encouragement of my parents; they always enjoyed seeing me "reading" to myself, making up nearly accurate stories to go along with the pictures, and I loved it when they would read to me before bedtime.

Libraries did, however, allow me to expand my book interests: mysteries, poems, adventures, comedies, and many others. The library offers children a portal into the imaginary world of their choosing; whether it be an island with buried treasure and plundering pirates, or the streets of London, witnessing Sherlock Holmes solve his latest mystery. Libraries can give children an excape, through books, from the troubles and hardships of everyday life.