Today I discovered a series that I've been wanting to read for a long long time. It's The Spirit Animals series that was started by Brandon Mull and now each book features a different author like Marie Lu, Garth Nix, Shannon Hale, and Maggie Stiefvater (a new favourite of mine). I'm pretty stoked to start this series because I found the first seven at the library. It was actually quite thrilling to prance back and forth through the aisles trying to find the next book. I liked that a lot.
Simple things like that, twisting through the shelves like a kid, make my day and make me giddy. It takes me back to summer days when I wouldn't just metaphorically skip into the children's section, I'd actually do it. And my eyes wouldn't know where to turn on the shelf because every. single, book, looked like a world just waiting for me enter and I had to choose very wisely which one I wanted to visit for that week.
You could compare my exploration of the library to a roller coaster. I'd jump onto my toes to look at the tall shelves and then just as suddenly swoop down onto my knees to look at all of the books on the bottom. Thanks to child Kenra, I still have habit of sort of bobbing my head and my hip when I'm looking through the shelves, like I'm dancing the silent tune of words.
Today there was a little girl that reminded me of myself. She made herself so comfortable on the floor and she'd read a page carefully and then put it back on the shelf and grab another, taking excruciating care that she finds the perfect book. Her knees were splayed out beneath her and I can only imagine that one of her white tennis shoes had an untied lace. Her hair was a bit haphazard, but she didn't look like she cared and she just kept reading. I hated it when I had to break her concentration when one of my books was behind her. Nothing ruins the magic of reading more than a complete stranger who barges in and forces you to move for them. I'm such a jerk.
Would it have been weird if I had taken that girl by the hand and led her to my favourite books? What would I have done had that happened to me as a child? Sometimes I'm tempted to do that, I see a person that just looks like a reader and I want to take them on a guided tour of my book-loves. Stack book upon book in their arms and just insist that they love it just as much as me. Let's be honest, if that happened to me, I'd be a little weirded out. I'll resist the urge.
If you can do anything for a child, I'd say that taking them to the library is one of the best things to do. Summer time was my favourite time of the year because I knew that my mom would take us once a week to get five new books to read. Now, I want to give every parent I see at the library a thumbs up and hug the child who picks up Fablehaven or Artemis Fowl with curious eyes and get in their face and just say, "Read it, you'll love it."
Again, that'd be a little weird, so I look at the books instead.
I've found that every library feels the same too. Even the ones at school, or across the country, they all have this aura of knowledge, adventure, wisdom. It has this feeling that no matter where you are in the world, there are books, and books mean sanctuary and home. Libraries mean home to me, I can find anything and everything I want and I can curl into the corner of the room and just escape for an hour or two. I go there to escape the messed up world and find solace.
Would you like to go on an adventure?
Go to the library.
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