Rediscovering the Public Library

By Joyce Moseley Pierce

As a child, I loved to go to the library. At the end of the school year I couldn't wait for the summer reading program to begin. I'd read 60 books just to get a free cone at my local Dairy Queen. Looking back, it seems like such an insignificant prize, but it was enough to keep me begging throughout the summer to go to the library.

As a parent, I loved taking my children to the library, and continued to check out books for myself as well as for them, but as they grew up and read books from their own school library, I stopped going. I became someone who wanted to "own" my books and dreamed of having my home office filled with every book I'd ever read or ever hoped to read!

My collection grew, and years later, in trying to simplify my life and get rid of things I don't use, I realized that most of these books had only been read once and the chances of my reading them again were slim. I decided it was time to find a new home for them.

I loaned them, sold them, and gave them away. It not only felt good to think they were giving pleasure to someone else, it also gave me more room in my house and fewer things to dust.

An important point in recycling books is not to dwell on the money originally spent for them. If the author enriched your life by making you laugh, cry, think or dream, then you have already received more value than the price on the cover. Your life has been changed by it, no matter how insignificantly. It's time to pass it on to someone else.

Just recently, I wanted new reading material, and instead of going to the bookstore, I went back to my old friend, the library. I was right where I wanted to be - surrounded by shelf after shelf of books without the expense of having purchased them, or the responsibility of having to dust or store them!

About the Author:

Joyce Moseley Pierce is a freelance writer, publishes the Family First weekly ezine, and pushes preparedness beyond food storage. Visit her site, www.emersonpublications.com to register for the newsletter, to read past issues, to order her book, "All They'll Need to Know," or just to learn more about how you can protect your loved ones.