Then:
Growing up in rural Alabama in the 1970s I had a much different relationship with books and libraries than most people who pursue a career as a librarian. In my case the lack of a library and the love of reading led me to a career in libraries. My family didn’t live in a town and the nearest town that had a public library was at least a 30-minute drive away. Both my mom and dad worked and I and then later my younger brother remained on the farm with my grandparents before we were old enough to go to school. During this point in my life reading was an integral part of the learning process but took place at home with books that my parents bought rather than borrowed. I’m not exactly sure where the books came from, but I do faintly remember enjoying them with my parents.
We didn’t have a lot of money at that time, but I didn’t realize this until much later in life. Even so my parents worked hard to make sure I never knew that we didn’t have a lot of the things that money could buy. And that included getting an early pre-school education in history, reading, writing, and life skills that you don’t usually get in school. I don’t feel that the lack of a public library or family finances hampered my ability to learn because I seem to remember always having books when I was young. My parents were adept at turning some of the most mundane things into a learning experience. One great example was weekly rides through the country. Often after church on Sundays we would take off in dad’s truck to ride around on some of the numerous dirt roads that crisscrossed our county in North Alabama. My love of science, nature, and history began on these drives and carried on through the titles that I have enjoyed reading all my life.
As I began school life, I found that I enjoyed reading even though early on the subjects were very limited to school curriculum. I don’t remember the first time our class was allowed to go to the school library to check out books, but I do remember it was an eye-opening experience to be able to choose from what I thought were many titles. I soon realized that I enjoyed biographies and science fiction over the typical types of books we were allowed to check out from a very limited section. Our library was a converted classroom in an old school that had served my community since the mid-1930s. It seemed large at the time but was rather small and limited in what it offered. Nevertheless, my classmates and I seemed to make the best out of the situation by reading all the materials that we could. Soon, however, we found that we ran out of interesting books and attempted to move beyond our age limitations within the school’s collection. Most of the time we had to settle for reading many of the same books repeatedly.
It seems like it was overnight when a world once closed to me opened and I found myself emersed in history, science, and science fiction that had been off limits at my school library. My parents were always eager to assist in my education anyway possible. And because we lived in a very rural area in Alabama, we had no access to a public library so the almost three months of our summer vacation meant that I had no access to reading materials at all. This problem was solved when my mom introduced me to a science fiction book club that I could be a part of through the mail. Immediately I was astounded by titles from Larry Niven, Frederick Pohl, Poul Anderson, and Frank Herbert. They created worlds that I could only dream about, and I got to travel there through their words and my imagination. I was hooked and couldn’t get enough titles like Ringworld by Niven, Whipping Star by Herbert, Gateway by Pohl, and others. I still have those wonderful books after more than 50 years.
From there I explored college and university libraries, and I expanded my education. In the end I began my career in libraries and have continued that work to this day. I have always equated education and libraries as hopelessly intertwined and have been a part of that coalition whether teaching, administering an archives facility, or my more recent work of administering libraries. I am now near the end of my career, but I will always remember how it began when I first cracked open my copy of Pohl’s Gateway. I have never forgotten the excitement of reading those books as a child and wondering about the worlds we may never get to see. I have changed tremendously but my love of reading remains as strong as ever. As a result, that same excitement fills me when I read the newest Craig Johnson or Anne Hillerman title today.
Now:
