Today is National Libraries Day, so I wanted to tell you a bit about the influence that libraries have had on me.
When I was young I lived in a house full of books which seemed to be mostly for adults or directed towards boys (I have two brothers). I read everything I could lay my hands on, but when I first went to my local library I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Racks and racks of books for girls, my own library cards and no-one to tell me what to pick. Every Saturday morning I took the bus into town clutching my three books, handed them in and got back my three little orange cards. I then sniffed along the shelves until I found something which caught my fancy. Half the time the three books wouldn’t last me through the weekend. I pleaded with the librarian to be allowed to take out more, but those were the rules. Even so, in a few years I must have read half the library.
When I moved up to senior school there was a small fiction library to explore, so I was able to take out books from there too. As I got older I started to get my own books and borrow from friends (there’s nothing quite like having a rummage through someone else’s bookshelf). And I also bought my own, enjoying the thrill of a nice, crisp paperback which may or may not in time turn into a soft, well-worn favourite.
One of the most exciting things about writing my own books has been knowing that they are sitting on the shelf in libraries, where a whole new generation of girls can find them, and that makes me hugely proud. Go and join your local library today!
This is what I am doing now, I can’t get my head out of books
I practically lived in my local library when I was little. In fact, when I tried to run away, aged about 13, I only got as far as the library (2 minutes down the road). That’s how rebellious I was! I mainly loved it for all the adult books, which our school library didn’t stock. Unfortunately the library, in a beautiful Victorian building, is now under threat.
Lovely to read your memories of libraries!