Today I am missing the library. I can’t remember a time in my recent history that I have been away from the library for such an extended time. But the pandemic has closed it and almost everything else indefinitely.
My “Later” shelf in my digital library account has more than 35 items. . .My “Hold” list has about 20 at any given time. I drop in at the library, on average, about three times each week, during NORMAL life. This is anything but normal. I realize our country and world are facing enormous challenges right now. I think my longing for the library is just part of wanting some normalcy again.
But some good has come of this. I decided I actually had to finish most of the books I have curr
ently checked out, as the library has told us to keep them until July perhaps. . .I had to learn how to use the Library’s Libby app on my phone and have discovered audiobooks that I listen to while I clean house and do yard work.
Delayed gratification is good training ground for many of life’s disappointments, as I have often told my children. I narrowly missed picking up my books on the hold shelf before the King County Library System closed its doors in March. Here are the books awaiting me there when the doors open. The Call of the Wild + Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child’s Education by Ainsley Arment and Becoming Mrs. Lewis: A Novel–the Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis by Patti Callahan-Henry.
I have also made greater use of ebooks during this time, both on Kindle and on Libby. My husband has listened to several books on the Libby app in the past few months. So we have learned some new skills, which is a good thing! Yesterday the library announced a summer reading program that will be online instead of on paper. So we continue to learn.
I still long for the days when I can wander in the library, pick my books up from the hold shelf, browse the magazines and used book shelf. I do know that in the future I will be more grateful for the “normal” things in my life, like going to the library.
As J.K Rowling wrote, “When in doubt, go to the library.