At the library

I finished reading The King of California and now I need to find another to replace it. The space around my chair in the family room, the one with a great reading light, is filled with stacks of books. OK, not that many…but I do have about a dozen, or maybe a little more. So I should have no problem finding another good read.

Coincidence? That I would give up television at about the same time I started volunteering to pick up books weekly in Chico for the Friends of the Orland Library? As it works out, I do a casual search of the donated books, find a few interesting ones and set them aside, to be read and then donated at a later date. What a great deal! ‘Free’ books and they don’t end up cluttering my shelves forever. I can usually read the ‘light’ ones in a day or two, the more substantial books, such as The King of California may take a few weeks.

I have always had a fascination with libraries, beginning with a trip to the Los Angeles City Library when I was quite young. I think mom took me? Later, it was a branch library at Pollywog Pond that held my attention. And from the age of 9 or 10, I would make occasional and treasured trips on the bus to the Mecca of libraries; the LA City library.

I don’t remember when TV became a drug. I do know that at first it was fascinating and I remember great shows like Omnibus… but eventually, over the years, television became something I turned on whenever I felt lonely for the sound of human voices. Habit. And I stopped going to libraries as often. Most of my reading was done on airplanes and I frequented the airport shops that sold “airplane’ books; paperback books that you didn’t really care about and if they were forgotten in the seatback pocket…so what?

With the television turned off for awhile; (it may come back on when and if it improves) books are a pleasure once again. Now, when I go the library it’s like going to visit an old friend, a friend with lots of stories to tell me.

Some good news is the fact that the library in Chico was given additional funding for this year and they are going to use it for increased hours and programs. I don’t know how long this will last; most libraries take a hit when the fiscal conservatives rise to power. I heard a story, unverified, that a Glenn County Supervisor said that most people should have enough books of their own; at home…additional books certainly weren’t needed. And, isn’t that what schools were for? To supply books?

The downside to this library story is the fact that volunteers for the Friends of the Library at both the Chico and the Orland libraries are...old. I haven't seen more a handful of volunteers that are below the age of 70. So what will happen when they are gone?