Did you know that February is National Library Lover’s Month? Well, I hate to use the usual cliché but every month is library month to me!
When my son was little, we’d make weekly treks to the local library near our house. Each of us could borrow up to 72 books at a time. I exercised a lot carrying two tote bags (one for my son, one for me) from the library to the vehicle and then to the house and back again to the library.
My love of reading came from my parents, who made sure my brothers and I were always surrounded by books since birth. When we couldn’t read yet, my mother would read to us every day. We would sing along with nursery rhymes on vinyl records. Anyone still have vinyl records?
Growing up, reading was a part of my daily life, like food and water. I remember my high school library, housed in a large room in a 19th century building. Some day when I revisit my hometown by the sea, I will see if the library is still there.
What about you? What are some of your memories of libraries?
Here are some library memories from several InspyRomance authors. Thank you to all for taking the time to write. I had a great time reading their notes, and I tell you, I was smiling each time, thinking about the vividness of their memories. I was inspired to find stock photos of what came to my mind. What pictures do you think of when you read these? Tell me in the comments.
“One library memory sticks out in particular. The first time I went over to my friend Gabbi’s house, it was a bit awkward and we couldn’t decide how to spend our day. We ended up riding our bikes to the local library. We bonded over what we had read in the young adult section, giggling and gushing over our mutual passion and recommending books to one another. That was about 20 years ago now. She was my maid of honor and is still one of my closest friends! Many library and bookstore trips have followed that first one.” – Tara Grace Ericson
That is a wonderful memory of growing up with books. What a fun way to enjoy the love of reading with lifelong friends! Anyone else here remember cycling to the local library with your friends? Do you still keep in touch with them after all these years?
“I moved around a lot as a kid and as an adult. As an adult the first thing I looked up was how close the nearest library was. It was a relief being able to walk there when we were a one car family.” – Toni Shiloh
Oooh, yes! I remember when we moved to a new town twenty-some years ago and I was worried I had to drive back to my old town to borrow books from the library. Thankfully, they did build a cute library that was styled after a train station, and placed it right next to a historical railroad track. It was very well done, airy and filled with outdoor light. I love that place. So sorry we had to move away two years ago.
“I didn’t live in the same town as a public library until I was a teenager. Even our rural/ northern Manitoba, Canada, schools only had book cupboards in the classrooms with no designated library room. Our family ordered library books from the university in Winnipeg via a paper form not unlike the next generation’s Scholastic book fair listings, except our books were free and had to be returned! I remember the excitement of Mom opening the cardboard box that had come in the mail and everyone retreating to read their treats. Also, I prefer to remember this as how very remote our community was, not how ancient I am!” – Valerie Comer
When I was in elementary school, we had a library cart on wheels that went from classroom to classroom during library hour. We could then borrow books from the cart. The school had a library too, but it was for older kids (who could probably sit more quietly at the table more than we little kids could LOL).
“In the summers of my childhood, the library’s Bookmobile would come one morning a week and park about six blocks away from my house. My best friend and I would ride our bikes there, our favorite activity. My favorite books were the horse stories which were positioned in the back right, the very bottom row. I’d have to lie down on my side to be eye level so I could check and see if they had any I hadn’t read!” – Laurie Larsen
I love all the photos of bookmobiles I see on social media. I think bookmobiles are a lovely idea even if the town has a library. Anyone else here remember bookmobiles in their childhood? I didn’t have one in my town, sadly. I can just imagine how many more books I would have read!
“When I was a kid, living in Billings, Montana, we didn’t have a library close by, but we had the bookmobile. It would stop right at our house. I would climb the steps and go inside where hundreds of books were shelved. The kind librarian would help me pick up books. What a treat! Then I have a funny memory (sort of). When I was in college, I worked the desk in the library to help pay my tuition. One October Sunday afternoon, I had to work. It was cold outside and inside. The furnace was on some kind of timer, and couldn’t be turned on. My lips were blue when I finished my time. I think it took me two days to warmup.” – Merrillee Whren
Wow, that sounds cold! Thanks for the library memory. I also worked in one of the libraries at college, but it was in the archives library with books dating as far back as the 18th century and older, and oh boy, some of those books had bugs on them. I love history so it was fun stepping back in time to see all those bound Congressional bills and think about old printing presses, but at the same time, I had to evade bugs, which did not freeze in the mild winter we had in Georgia.
Again, I appreciate all the InspyRomance authors above who took the time to share about the libraries in their lives. Thank you, ladies!
I do love libraries and I am truly thankful to God for them. Without libraries, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to read as much as I had my whole life. Nowadays, we are all familiar with ebook libraries that exist in tandem with brick-and-mortar libraries. My local library here allows me to check out ebooks for couple of weeks, perhaps more. And then there’s the Kindle Unlimited lending library, that seemingly endless source of ebooks to read. Many Christian romance novels are in KU, including most of mine.
Do you like to read ebook or print? Do you check them out of your local library or via KU?
Comment on your memories of libraries. Happy National Library Lover’s Month to you, and here’s wishing you many more years of happy reading!
USA Today bestselling novelist Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with elements of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with an air of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Join Jan's mailing list for her latest book news: JanThompson.com/newsletter
We are from a long line of teachers, so books have always been so important to us. We never lived near a library, but our Mom would take us after school on Friday to get a book to read for the week.
I love libraries! When I was younger my mum would drive us to the nearest town at least once a month to visit the library, looking back she must have been so busy but she always found time to do it. I can remember studying in the library at school and college, I loved the quiet. I’ve always joined the library wherever I’ve lived, I think they are amazing. Now I take my two youngest to a weekly singing session at our local library.
As a child, I borrowed books from the town library when my class in school made bi-weekly visits to the library. I also borrowed from our school library. I didn’t have access to a library during the summer, but I always found books to read. I considered becoming a librarian at one time, and I worked in the college library when I was a student there. Now I mostly use KU.
I have fond memories of my mom taking us to the library every two weeks. I loved to go and pick out books and that love has only grown. I loved to do their summer reading programs too. I was so excited when my small town built a new library.
I worked as a librarian assistant in high school. I’ve loved books since grade school. My children and I went to the library a lot since we homeschooled. All my children love to read. My husband and I always took the children out to eat and to a book store to pick out a book on their birthdays.
I enjoy going to thr library. It’s so fun to be able to try so many new authors without paying money first. Then ifs I really like them I’ll buy my own copy sometimes.
I used to go to the library every week!! That was my “thing” to do on Saturdays! Now, I don’t go as often, as I have soooo many books in my TBR stacks, both paperbacks and ebooks! My love of reading came from my parents. I remember both of them reading to me, even after I could read for myself! I started reading before I was four on my own, and I was four when I got my first library card. I remember the librarian asked me if I wanted my own card, and I told her no. She went to Mom and asked Mom to find out why. So, Mom asked if I wanted a card, I told her no, and she asked me why. I told her the sign said I could only check out 3 books if I got a card, and I had maybe 6 I was going to check out. The librarian heard me tell Mom, and she told me that sign was only for people they didn’t know, and if I wanted a my own card, I could still check all of the books I wanted. So, I got my card, and quit using my sister’s.
I used to love to going to library as teenagers in high school because I was in a small bookclub at school. I remember that our librarian had a contest about How many books you can read in school years? and get surprise. I never win but always faster reader than me. It is very fun and exciting to me.
Happy Weekend Jan. Thanks for the delightful blog and including other IR authors. Our county has 17 libraries, but as a child the library was not within walking distance. As a teen and college student I often studied in the school library. As a teacher, I enjoyed our high school library and city libraries. In the late 1990s under President Clinton our local school districts all expanded and improved the school libraries from elementary, middle and high school. Recently our community college improved the library.
Oma’s Daycare took the granddaughters regularly to story time. Plus I participate in a Library run book club. As Megan stated I often check out books for myself and granddaughters before purchasing them. My youngest granddaughter moved and now has a library within walking distance of my son’s house. When I visit them, we often go to the library. Hubby and I often go on day trips through small back road Michigan communities. On occasion we explored some libraries. So fun! Best wishes. Happy Reading!
I prefer PRint books I have a like a library in my market with my books and I check out books at the local library.i do read ebooks but I prefer PRint if I read ebooks I check my books from overdrive through my library.
I started taking my kids to the library when they were very little. They both love books and reading!
Hi, I only read books in print and I only listen to them on CD’s or MP3 as I am not tech savvy at all. When I was young we did not have a library, we lived in a very small town. We did have our school library which was very nice. In elementary school, our teacher would put book on the record player and if there was a little bell when the page needed to be turned, that was such a treat!! We would also get the Scholastic Weekly readers every Friday and I just loved loved that! Our parents would buy us a subscription to the Scholastic Weekly Readers for the summer and boy was that a Big Treat and during the school year our parents would purchase us books from the Scholastic readers. When I had my 2 now adult grown children we would always take them to the library and we would enroll them for the summer reading program at the library and they really enjoyed that. Have a great weekend.
I used to love going to the library as a kid, since reading was my favorite activity. I still love to read and worked in the library when I was in college. One of our duties was to re-shelve books. To this day, it bugs me when people put stuff back where it doesn’t belong!
love libraries
I lived in a small town that did not have a library and the library in the next big town was to far away. So I was not an av8d reader growing up. We had school libraries and I even volunteered in the school library as a junior and senior in high school. We did have the bookmobile, too. Those were fun. My favorite memories were taking my kids to the library for story time and summer reading programs. The Children’s Librarian had a good time talking and laughing. One time we got in trouble for being so loud! 😲 Good memories.
Now that I am retired, I am catching up. I like both physical books and ebooks, but mostly ebooks. I do use the app, Overdrive.
I didn’t proofread before I hit the button. 🤦♀️ The librarian and I had a good time…
I love libraries too. We have a new library here. Bigger – more books.
Wow! Look at all the wonderful library memories. Fun!
Thank you all for your comments.
I love going to libraries. When I was younger, there were times when my grandparents would watch my siblings and I and they would always take us to the library. I can remember hours spent at the library as a child.
Thank you for your comment! Lovely memories. Your mom is amazing. Those memories stay with us for a lifetime, don’t they!
My dad was a teacher for 35+ years before he retired. My mom was an avid reader too (before the stroke). Between the two of them, our house was always filled with books they had collected.
Have a wonderful weekend!
I prefer to read in print, and I check out a lot of books from the local library. Thankfully, our closest library is only a 10-minute drive. :D
I love libraries! When we were young my mom would take my brother and me to the library regularly and we would fill up a big tub with books. I loved looking through it again once we were home in order to decide which book to read first.
My family has always loved books, but we never went to the public library much while growing up. Our school system had a great library and twice a year we would get to have Book Fair Day and every student could choose a brand new book free of charge to take home and keep. It was always the most exciting day of the year! Once I became a mom, I took my kids to the library as often as possible. My kids are 15, 13, and 10 now and we all still love going to the library.
Those are some great memories and what a legacy it is to pass it on to the next generation. I’m glad we always have libraries.
College libraries were indeed a quiet place for me to study too — especially in the study cubicles. They only catch was they close at night and I couldn’t lock my things there. I had to lug a backpack full of books back to my dorm/apartment.
That’s wonderful that you take your little ones to the library. Fun!
Thanks again for your comments and have a great weekend!
Wonderful memories! These days I also subscribe to KU, but also the local library here. KU is so much more closer obviously since I can just download. The local library here is about 10-15 minutes away depending on traffic.
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Bookclubs are a nice encouragement to read more books. That’s a clever contest idea. When my son was in grade school, we had a summer reading program at the local library. If you read a certain number of books in the summer, you won prizes! I don’t think my son ever won but he did get to read a lot of books. I was surprised at some of the amazingly voracious young readers out there LOL.
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
What are we going to do without moms! I’m glad your mom took you to the library!
Yes, it’s great to see when they build nice new libraries. Doesn’t have to be big at all. When we first moved to the previous town we lived in, our son was just a baby. There were several libraries but they were not conveniently near us. However a few years later, they built a lovely airy open-space small library I liked so much. Still missed it!
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Hello! I have a high respect for librarians. Thank you for your hard work!
We also homeschooled and used the library a lot. My son started reading at 3YO so I knew we would spend a lot of time in the library.
What a lovely idea to buy books for your kids’ birthdays. That further encouraged them to read read read. Good job!
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Sounds good to me! I love to read hardcover books and large print editions from the library. Because I was basically a voracious reader (now I’ve slowed down in my older age LOL), I would have been broke if not for the library.
I also bought books myself. When we moved and downsized to a smaller retirement home, we had to give away boxes and boxes of books that my husband and I had both bought over the decades.
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Nice! That’s wonderful that you could check out all the books you wanted. After a while I started reserving books from the library so that I didn’t have to go look through the shelves in person. Then I would go pick them up whenever the library said they were ready. BUT when I have time I still like to browse. I find new authors that way. For non-fiction, I get to peek at the book before I check them out.
I hear you about going less often. During the pandemic, it was a terrible time for libraries. I wondered about all the kids who wanted to read books but didn’t get a chance because of the shutdown across the world. But as the states opened up, my libraries allowed outside checking and limited number of people inside the building. Now they’re all back to normal. Hooray!
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Thank you so much! I knew I wanted to ask other IR authors about their library experiences, because I knew that every author is also a reader. Along with reading comes the wonderful place called libraries. This is the first time I found out that February was National Library Lover’s Month, so I was like, great! I will talk about libraries in my blog post!
That’s wonderful that you’re very active in the library community and utilize the library with your granddaughters. Even though I am also reading more ebooks than printed books these days, I still try to check out books from the library as often as I can. I hope that’s a small way to help keep library doors always open.
Thanks again for your comments and have a great weekend!
Yes, I do like the feel of holding a paperback or hardcover book in my hands. Also, I don’t have to charge up the book LOL. I’m glad your library has Overdrive for ebooks as well. That’s the best of both worlds!
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Nice! Glad you did that. I think taking kids to the library play a huge role in encouraging them to read.
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Hello – Thank you for sharing those great memories of libraries. I do remember those books on tape at one point. It’s nice to have it read as we turned the pages! Glad you mentioned it. I have heard of Scholastic but only as a publisher of some of the books we read. The reading program sounds fun!
Thanks again for your comments and have a great weekend!
Same here!
I read print books. When I was a child, I would spend hours in the library. I never wanted to leave. Being disabled, it has made it harder for me to go to the library since I have problems walking and standing. I finally received an electric wheelchair the end of December. I am looking forward to being able to get out and explore places I have not been able to in years. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
Lovely to have a new library! Our library here looks newish but I just looked it up and it’s been there since the 1980s. I guess that means they took such good care of it.
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Thank you for your comments! Sounds like you had some good memories of libraries too. For a few years of my early life, we also were too far away from a library, so my parents created a library environment for my brothers and I at home. We would reread the same books over and over again but I enjoyed the stories.
That’s nice that you have more time now to read both printed and ebooks!
P.S. You can click on the edit button to correct typos. I’ve had to do that a few times myself.
That’s wonderful that your grandparents took you and your siblings to the library. What a nice legacy they left your family.
I still love the library today. We have only been in this town for a little over a year, but I plan to visit all the main libraries. There’s apparently one here that’s historic and was established in 1907.
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Wow that’s very close to you! Nice and convenient!
Barring traffic, the closest one to me is about 10-15 minutes away. Speaking of which, I have a tote bag of books I have to return. I didn’t get to read any of them in this bag this time because I was super busy trying to finish writing two late novels. But I will return them so that others can check them out. I will find them again later.
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Wonderful memories! Yes, same here re: browse through them again once home.
Back when my son was little, I used a large cardboard box and lined up the books in it, separating the read and unread, so that he could see which books he wanted to read first. I love organizing books and I missed those days of piling up kid’s books!
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
I hear you! In fact, if they don’t know where to put the book back, then they can always take it to a librarian or leave it on an open table, and the librarians will shelve it back properly.
I also worked in the library at college. It was a fun job, and so much more interesting and less messy compared to working in the dining hall.
Thank you for your comments and have a great weekend!
Book fair day sounds fun! Glad you went and got new books to keep.
Those are wonderful ages for kids to be in the library to develop a love for books. So glad they love the library. May God reward you with many blessings for taking your kids to the library!
Thank you for your comments and have a wonderful weekend!
Debra – Thank you for your comments. I’m glad you have an electric wheelchair now for mobility. Most libraries (the ones near me anyway) have wonderful accessibility for wheelchairs, so I hope you get to check out more books.
Do you also read ebooks? I find ebooks to be lighter to carry around bc I can put them on my phone. I used to have an older iPad with a bigger screen, but my bag is too small to carry with me everywhere I go. A phone is so much more portable.
Thanks again for your comments and have a wonderful weekend!
I also remember my primary school and high school libraries. They were integral to creating my reading habit outside of my family.
I think you did great with the pics! They paired well with the authors’ memories. :)
I like to read ebooks these days, but my own kindle is my library atm, lol.
Thank you so much, Priscila! Glad you like the stock photos I selected.
I think I’m about the same now with Kindle as my library hehe. I have a collection of books I bought and also books I borrowed via Kindle Unlimited, and sadly not enough time to read them all. I think my TBR is almost 7 years deep now.
I’m glad you had school libraries growing up. Good reading habits to form.
Thanks again for your comments and have a wonderful weekend!
Growing up the only library we had access to was the school library. We always had books in the house as everyone read. The town library opened when I was about 15 before that the town library had a yearly fee and we didn’t have a membership. So it was the school libraries I borrowed from. Also growing up the school use to send home a book catalogue each month where we could buy books at a fairly cheap price and we always bought a few each month.
I am now mainly an ebook reader but I mainly buy the books or win etc the books I read.
Growing up I enjoyed both going to the library and the bookmobile depending on where we lived. The summer reading programs were so much fun. I also enjoyed taking my children to the library when they were growing up. We went for both the programs that were put on as well as the books. We would check out so many books.
I have more library memories than you have time to read! When I was in grad school, my fantasy was to somehow get locked in the campus library overnight. It was a historic, sprawling multi-storied building with over 2 million books and tiny, winding staircases and aisles in some places. When I was expecting my firstborn, I longed for the day I could take him to “Library Time.” He volunteered at that library during the summers from the time he was 9 to when he could get a “real” job. I constantly donate books to libraries. They’re a shining light and will always have a home in my heart.
I always loved going to the library when I was younger and as I got older because I love reading The Print books!
I just saw your comment! That’s nice that you had books at home and also in the school library. That does make up for the public library. Glad you had one later on. Our public libraries here are free because they’re paid for by taxpayers.
I also like to own books rather than borrow them from the library, but due to my voracious reading, I wasn’t able to afford to buy every book I wanted to read. I’m thankful for any library I could find then. Yes, I love discounted books also, and am glad my parents bought us books to read to make up for what’s missing in libraries.
These days, I’m leaning more and more toward ebooks because I can read them any time on my phone instead of forgetting to bring a printed book with me. Waiting at doctor’s office or whenever I have just a few minutes to read, I always find my ebooks waiting for me on my phone!
Thank you for your comment and have a wonderful week in the Lord!
Lovely memories! Yes, summer reading programs are great. Glad you and your kids had fun at the library.
Thank you for your comment and have a wonderful week in the Lord!
Nice! Wow, that old library sounds amazing, like a whole novel could be set there.
Nice of your son to volunteer at your local library. It never crossed my mind that you could do that as a kid. Or else I would have encouraged my son to do so since he loved the library so much.
Glad you donated books to the library. My local library has a sale section in which they sell used books to add to their program funding. I sometimes could get NYT bestselling books for $1 or $2.
Thank you for your comment and have a wonderful week in the Lord!
I still go to the public library today, whenever I have time. I love browsing through the shelves and finding new books to read. Hope to read more as soon as I get a break from writing. I usually read genres I don’t write in.
Thank you for your comment and have a wonderful week in the Lord!
I love libraries. Lately, I prefer eBooks – so convenient!