I remember the walls clearly. The rectangle room had three
wall panels and the longest wall was painted white brick at the bottom with the
top half filled with windows. It was clear that this room was built in the 70s
or perhaps even earlier. There were only 6 aisles with a few feet separating
them. It was quaint and cozy, but many memories stemmed from that room. As soon
as you walked in, the checkout counter was immediately to the right of the door
and to the left was the breathtaking and glorious books. The shorter bookcases
in the last two aisles were mainly for the lower grades, but the back wall was
filled with the classics. Every time it was our classes’ turn to go down to the
library, I went straight to that area. As a fourth-grader, I was eager to
please, especially since I read my first book in that same library.
I often
think about that faithful day when I became a bookworm. I was only four, not
even in kindergarten yet. My mom helped out a lot at the school, filling in the
librarian or subbing for the kindergarten teacher. I was exposed to books at a
very young age. I got this book, not sure if it was just a gift or it was
received at a holiday or birthday, but it was amazing! It had dozen or so
stories in it, all the classics! I had my mom read it to me every night and
slowly over time, I learned how to read. And the very first person that I read
it to was the school’s principal. I wanted to show her even before I step into
her school as a student, that I could read! I was so excited. I believe it was
one of the Frog and the Toad stories within that big book of tales. I remember the nights before, rehearsing as ones does at the faithful age of four. I was glue to that book.
When my mom went to visit the school later that week in which my two older siblings were attending, I bought along that book. I wanted to showcase my talent, my ambition to read before going to school. So as the principal sat in the library, I went up there and asked to read. It was there in that faithful room that I read out loud for the very first time. Often, it feels only like yesterday that I achieved one of my first goals as a person, as a child.
Since that moment, almost twenty-three years ago, I still am madly in love with reading. I read all the children and young adult books in my town's library and have a collection of well over 600 books. That passion for reading as always been ignited in me and do not believe it will ever go away. With that passion, I do hope to one day be a librarian, even as I ventured into the IT world. I want to share my love of reading to others and hope that they too feel that amazing feeling that I felt at the tender age of four.
Nothing beats the satisfaction as one gets when finishing a really good book. There is nothing like it!
