Dec
29
2014
The Library
Posted in Family Life 4 Comments
To many it looks like an ordinary house.
For those who have experienced its charm, it is much more.
On the website, the tagline says: Serving the community since 1876.
It has served my family well through the years.
This building is part of our story.
It is one of those places that you remember fondly.
It is a place where we spent countless hours.
It is the neighborhood library.
Our county has a very good library system.
The library system consists of a main library and surrounding neighborhood libraries.
We spent much of our time in one of the neighborhood libraries.
It was nestled in a house, with its children’s section located on the former back porch.
You walked into a house, when you walked into the library.
You walked back into time.
As a mother of five children, I loved the way the library was self-contained.
There was safety and security in its size and comfort in its ambiance.
We would walk into the library with our satchels every week.
We would spend our time on the former back porch and choose age appropriate books.
I remember the long tables where my young children would peruse the books they chose.
Each had a stack in front of them along with some that would be for family read aloud.
I knew where every author could be found since we had our favorites.
Featured books would be along the top of the shelves.
We would inevitably choose some of those.
The older ones remembered choosing some of the same books the younger ones chose.
The old brick wall of the house was the interior wall of the back porch.
There were two windows near the table where we would sit.
Once my children were old enough to venture out on their own, they would explore a bit.
They went pass the circulation desk and go into the next room all by themselves.
They soon discovered that they could go to the windows and see me in the other room.
They felt so old to be alone yet not alone.
I always acted surprised to see them there.
It was a big day when they each got their own library card.
Some of my children have found their old card, with their very young signature on it.
The library card was a milestone, a rite of passage that they were very proud to carry.
The old historic library had floors that creaked and a staircase that was grand in its day.
The front door opened into the foyer, which was now home to the circulation desk.
There was only a narrow area to pass through.
Often as you were checking out books, someone had to pass.
You had to push yourself up against the counter so there was enough room.
The space was narrow because the card catalog was against the adjacent wall.
Often, you had to stop your search and close the card catalog drawer to let someone pass.
All of this was part of the library’s charm.
All of this was part of the library’s history.
And now our favorite library is moving.
There was talk about moving for as many years as I can remember.
Not until recently did the talk become a reality.
After the New Year, the library will be in its new home.
Residents who went to this library for years have mixed emotions.
Nostalgic and a bit wistful we will move forward into this new era.
The Rotary Club is having a Wagons Ho campaign on the first Saturday of the New Year.
They are asking the community to bring their little red wagons to help move the books.
They begin at 8:00 in the morning and continue until all the books are moved.
The library has been raising funds to help pay for their new location.
One way to support them was through the purchase of Christmas ornaments.
Beautiful wooden ornaments with the picture of the historic library on the front.
I stopped by the library before Christmas to purchase some ornaments.
I stepped into the former back porch and saw the stacks of children’s books.
I saw the tables where my children and I sat all those years ago.
I saw the windows where my older children ventured so they could wave to me.
I entered the former foyer where the circulation desk was still standing.
I spotted the card catalog against the wall, now more nostalgic than functional.
I had to move out of the way as someone needed to pass.
I walked into the other room and saw one of the librarians who helped us many times.
I stepped into history: our history, other families’ history, and community history.
I paid for my ornaments and left.
I got into my car in the back parking lot, which would have been the back yard years ago.
I looked back at the door that was always so hard to hold open with books and children.
And I cried.
It was an end of an era and I was overcome with emotion.
So many happy memories were made there.
So many hours spent in wonder and adventure.
I actually saw the six of us walking through that door, satchels in hand.
Things change, as they should.
The memory is a part of you that no one can take away.
The weekly trips to the library are part of the fabric of my children’s lives.
That library will be firmly embedded in our memories for years to come.
The new location will be a memory maker for other families.
The former home of the library is now going to be residential, like it was years ago.
In fact, the library used to be the Miss Thomas Boarding School property.
The location where it now stands was made available for purchase in 1913.
The library is going back to its former use.
If the walls could talk, what a tale they would tell.
Every creak in the floorboards tells a story.
That is as it should be.
The end of an era and the beginning of a new one.
A new era to make room for more books for the coming generations.
That is a good thing but I am a bit wistful.
That is as it should be.
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. (John 21:25)
The many hours we spent reading to our children, helped to make them what they are today. I am proud.
Yes, Florence.
Those hours are some of the sweetest of my life.
Gina
Thank you! While I know the Downingtown Library needs the new space, I am also very sad. I too will remember bringing my children for books, story time and East Ward community unit trips. I also loved the current “home” of our library because it is a location much like the community library of my youth. Best wishes to the staff on the move!
Suzanne,
We share the same heart concerning this very special library. It will be forever in our memories and in the memories of our children. But now new memories are to be made. Those of us who love the library will support its growth into the future. I am delighted that you were blessed.
Gina