Some of the fondest memories of my childhood came in a library.
I always thought it was an old Carnegie Library, one of the 2,509 built in the U.S. with grants from the richest man in the world. It turns out Crestline, Ohio, wasn’t on the list, but the library there — whoever built it — was one of the most wonderful places in the world to me.
Whenever I was visiting my grandparents in the summer, I would walk to the library, check out five or six books on my mother’s old card and take them home to read them. It usually took me two or three days and then I was back for more.
I loved reading so much, probably more than anything in the world, and I enjoy it as much at 71 as I did at 11. Think about that for a minute. How many things other than eating and sleeping have you enjoyed for your entire life?
I was goofy. I thought all kids loved to read. How else were we supposed to develop our imaginations? How else could we visit any place in the world at any time in history? How else could we imagine ourselves exploring outer space?
I read every book in Duane Decker’s wonderful Blue Sox series and most of Clair Bee’s Chip Hilton books. I read everything by Robert Heinlein I could get my hands on and I read most of the books about Tom Swift. The only activity that compared in those wonderful summers was playing baseball at the city park.
I knew not everyone was like me, but I couldn’t imagine why anyone who could read wouldn’t want to read. Turns out I was wrong. Plenty of kids didn’t enjoy it at all, and like me, they grew up and became adults. We live in a country where roughly two of every three adults don’t read for pleasure, a country were 40 percent or more are functionally illiterate.
A few years back, Ohio was having big problems with its budget. The governor cut the budget for state libraries by 30 percent. Shorter hours, fewer days open, fewer people working there.
It’s all pretty stupid and short-sighted. Since so few people read anymore, libraries are a luxury. Besides, folks who enjoy reading can usually buy their own books.
In the 1930s when my mother was young, they had this thing called the Great Depression. Most people wouldn’t have even considered buying books other than maybe a family Bible. Why would they when you can get books at the library and read them for free?
When I lived in Huber Heights, Ohio, in the late ’50s and early ’60s, the library came to us. Every couple of weeks, the Bookmobile stopped in our neighborhood and we could check out books to return the next time it came.
I know Bookmobiles still exist somewhere, although I don’t think I’ve seen one in nearly 60 years.
We were such a fortunate generation, with parents who encouraged us to read and with the free time to indulge that wonderful habit. I think the Crestline Public Library might be one of the five most memorable places in my life and certainly would be at the top of my childhood list.
I buy books now. But what about the kids who haven’t discovered the joy of reading yet? If they’re to find it, it’s probably going to be in a library — if it’s open.
I would imagine if you had asked Ohio voters — or voters in a lot of states — where the budget cuts should come, they probably wouldn’t choose libraries. They might cut raises for prison guards, or ask state employees to pay more on their own health care.
At this rate, the odds are pretty good that we will eventually become a country where very few people read at all, and the majority get their entertainment only from flickering screens, or portable music players plugged into their ears.
There actually was a time before when almost no one read.
They called it the Dark Ages.
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Note: The library picture at the beginning of this piece is actually from Galion, Ohio, the next town over from Crestline. It’s similar and I couldn’t find a picture of the Crestline library.