Mama Gone Green is a blog dedicated to raising happy children and reducing our impact on the Earth. My name is Taryn and I am the mother of 2 young kids and an environmental studies instructor at a community college in Portland, Oregon. Please join me as I journey through life as a mama, teacher, knitter, photographer, gardener, and environmentalist!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Library Love

Although I was an avid reader as a child, and remember spending many summer hours at our local library, that all seemed to disappear before high school. Between homework, sports, work and friends, it was hard enough to finish reading the books that were assigned for my classes, much less reading books for pure pleasure. By the time I got to college, I was surrounded by books, but most were ones I would not have selected on my own. I spent many long hours in the libraries on campus, but that time was spent studying, researching, and writing papers. Libraries, to me, weren't exactly places full of fun.. they were more a symbol of work and expectations. And graduate school only emphasized that.
So, when my school days came to an end, and I found the time again to read for pleasure, going to the public library didn't really cross my mind. I would buy books, borrow them from friends, and receive them as gifts. But I never went to the library.
When I moved to Portland, pregnant, I often passed by our local library branch which is only a 15 minute walk away. The Portland public library system is amazing, offering storytimes for babies and children, and so it only made sense that, once I had Finn, I would take him to the library. We went to storytime regularly. We signed up for the summer reading programs. We borrowed books. We read. And today, we go to the library at least once a week, to browse books, and of course, to choose some to borrow and bring home. I rarely buy books anymore and always seem to have a stack of library books at my house, just waiting to be read.
The kids and I will head there on a rainy day: the walk brings fresh air and the reward is new books to occupy an afternoon spent indoors. I am so thankful that we have such a wonderful library so close to our home, and so thankful for the relationship that my children have with books. So today I am sharing my library love. Do you love a library?


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5 comments:

  1. Everywhere I go I frequent the library- even when we were in Guatemala for the month- I would take the boys to read there in the evenings-
    Since my boys were little babies I honestly can say we go to the library more then once a week. I always have a ton of books on hold or that I need to return so going often is my key to avoiding too many late fees-

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  2. Yes! We LOVE our library! There is not one within walking distance of our house, but i request about 30+ books a month and then pick them up. Sometimes I miss working as a librarian, but times are hard for them and most times I don't :-( I have no idea where we would be without the library.

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  3. We are not big library goers here, mostly because it is a 30 minute drive :( We have been a few times, but it is just to quiet for us. I have heard that the bigger library has a children's section that is not so quiet, but haven't checked it out yet..maybe on the next rainy day.

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  4. I have such memories of going to the library when I was young. We were four kids and we would each max out our library cards at each visit and then trade books. I was always secretly super excited when I would make it to my baby brother's stack (he is 4 years younger than I am). I have always loved my local library...until now. The collection here is shockingly limited for a city this size. Even the university library is surprisingly bare. When I was still working on my dissertation after we moved here, I had to order everything...every single thing...from other libraries. So, so sad.

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