One of my favorite places to visit is anyplace with books. And if they’re free, that’s even better.

This past week, I was able to visit my new neighborhood library, and it did not disappoint! I found two books that I have been looking forward to checking out- Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and The Knight and the Moth, by Rachel Gillig. It was so refreshing to see people there, hanging out until closing time.

I just love libraries. I worked in one during school, and volunteered at another years later. They have been among my favorite places to go ever since college. I can’t say that I used them much growing up- not that we never went to them- but I really started to use them in college. And it was then that I fell in love with them. When my kids were young, we spent hours at libraries, finding toys and kits to check out, in addition to movies, books, and music.

The library stacks at one of the schools I went to seemed to have book shelves within bookshelves. It was just so big. This was back when occasionally we’d need to find something on microfiche for a research paper. This was always a bit of an adventure. And don’t get me started on massive card catalogs. But I have to admit I actually miss those! I could really get lost in the stacks at school, looking through titles and finding a dark nook somewhere to study in.

My school was big enough that there were other libraries there aside from the main one, and those were more subject-specific and fun to explore in their own right. A nature library is a real treasure. One of the small cities near me has a library like this and I once found a book on clouds which was honestly so refreshing to read. I learned that there was an actual cloud society, which sounds right up my alley. It’s for cloud connoisseurs.

Reading through the stacks, looking through titles that I’ve never heard of before but sound promising is a real treasure hunt and one that I never get tired of.

How about you? Do you ever head down to your local library on a dark winter evening, looking for something new to read?

Coming home with a stack of books when it’s cold and windy outside is one of my favorite ways to spend an evening. 🙂