Getting my nose back in books
I visited the Russellville Library this week to do a story about their computer and job center.
When I walked in, I realized that I probably hadn’t been in that library since I was 12 years old. And then I realized how sad that was.
I used to be a frequent visitor at the library when I was a kid. I had my own library card, and I wore it out getting Judy Blume, Nancy Drew and Babysitter’s Club books.
When I was that age, I read just about anything I could get my hands on. Reading was fun for me, and I didn’t understand it when people said they hated to read.
But I figured out why those people hated it soon enough.
My love for books came to a screeching halt when I reached high school.
Up until that point, I read because I enjoyed it and it was fun. I read the things I liked and the things that held my interest. And then, in my first year of high school, I was forced to read “Shane.”
This book was absolutely horrible, in my opinion. I couldn’t find one redeeming quality. My husband likes the movie version because it’s a western, but to this day I can’t even stand to watch it. Needless to say, I was pretty scarred.
Now, I realize that teachers have to teach certain books and follow a certain curriculum, so I don’t blame the teachers. You can’t please everyone when you have to teach one book to 20 students. But when I started being forced to read books I couldn’t stand, I pretty much gave up on reading for fun.
My hiatus from reading anything not required of me lasted throughout my four years of college. If I had thought the things they made me read in high school were bad, they were like reading nursery rhymes compared to some of the junk they force-fed me in college.
By the time I graduated from UNA, I had reached the point where I thought I’d never read again. I didn’t even want to read my receipt at the grocery store.
But I have started to come back around. Now that I can actually read for fun again (provided I have the time), I am starting to re-discover the love I once had for books. And visiting the library brought back a lot of memories I had of reading and loving every minute of it.
