Mary Ann's Musings - Life in a Library

A collection of thoughts from Ms Mary Ann

My first memory of a Library is a building that housed not only the Town Hall, but the Fire Hall, and the Library. The Library had high ceilings and the bookcases seemed to go all the way up to meet them. The children’s books were situated on the lower shelves and were tightly packed together. The aisles were close together and I remember it as being very, dark tight space.

When we moved to Bowmanville in 1965, a new library had just been built which was huge with large windows, and plenty of space to browse. I went more often to this library and enjoyed the independence of going myself on my way from school. All the libraries I have had memberships in, have helped me on this path of learning, opening a new avenue of thought and love of new authors and genres.

I always frequented the library with my Father every Saturday. He was a ferocious reader, so my sister and I come by it honestly. She loves her e-reader, but I still love the feel of a nice new book, it calms me down turning the pages and enables me to travel to different places in the world.

That is why I love working at East Gwillimbury Public Library! Not only new books are everywhere but also it is easy to look at other books by unknown authors that are returned by patrons. People love to share their love of reading and the authors who they love to read. Working as a Children’s Programmer has also expanded my knowledge of Board Books and Picture Books. There are so many wonderful Authors and Illustrators in this genre even beyond the old standbys like Dr Seuss, Eric Carle, Anna Kang, and Bill Martin Jr.

Books come in all shapes, colors and sizes and need to be opened to be appreciated. We first are drawn to a book by it’s covers and then once the book is open the summary on the inner sleeve opens our eyes to the wonder of the story. There are so many books being written every day, we just have to make the time to open a book and start on a new journey.