My love for reading began when I was young. I was lucky enough to have a mom who not only encouraged reading but made sure I always had books at my disposal. It started with monthly trips to our local Barnes and Nobel bookstore. I remember my mom taking us to the biggest book store I had ever seen and telling my younger sister and I that we could each choose two books - the only caveat being that one book had to be what she deemed "educational" in value (I threw myself into historical fiction books). The other book could be one of our choosing and my sister and I gravitated toward R.L. Stine or The Baby-Sitters Club. Oh how I looked forward to those monthly trips!
Soon, I was reading through the two books much quicker than one monthly visit to the next and my mom had to find other ways to quench my reading thirst. That was when she introduced us to our local library. The library was as big as the bookstore but the books available didn't cost us a penny and I could check out up to 10 at a time. I was in heaven! My mom valued reading so much that she made it a requirement of any of the baby-sitters or nannies we had over the years - they were expected to take us to library each week.
I might not have recognized it at the time but my mother was instilling a life-long love of reading in me through these routines and opportunities to surround myself with books and reading material. I LOVED going to the library (I still do!) It was a place of refuge for me. When I was in high school and struggling socially, the library was the one place I could go that offered solace. I wasn't expected to put on a face for others or extend myself outside of my comfort zones...I could just be. I struggled with anxiety and depression during those years but always found comfort within the four walls of the library.
Today, as a mom, I've tried to instill the same love of reading and learning within my own daughter...providing her the same opportunities that my mom gave me. We take our monthly trips to Barnes & Nobel and we frequent the local libraries every week. She's found the library to be not only a place to find books that interest her, but also a place that offers other opportunities to inspire her creativity through hands-on activities and classes.
If I hadn't become an educator, I would have definitely enjoyed being a librarian!
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