My Happy Place...

In Appreciation Of Libraries & Bookstores…

Librarians and booksellers are prophets and matchmakers. They are archivers of secrets, distillers of vast knowledge and key holders to the treasure chests of the world.

And the bricks and mortar dwellings they inhabit are bursting at the seams with tales waiting to be told. Bustling with the hushed chatter of bookish people and overflowing with literary riches we are enticed to steal away with or lie our way through to borrowing. Armed with the weapons to ready our minds for battles of wit and words.

And they are a safe haven for any who need it. As a latchkey kid growing up, I whiled away most of my waking hours in a tiny library with dust in the air and a slightly musty scent. I thought it was heaven on earth. I went every single day in the summers and every weekend during the school year to stock up on as much reading material as they would allow.

Once I was of age to start earning money of my own, bookstores got added to the mix. In high school I would cut class to go to…you guessed it, the library. I didn’t want to read what teachers told me I should, to learn within the confines they laid out. I wanted unfettered access to the boundless choice from shelf upon shelf crammed tight with books. I was known in these places in a way I wasn’t anywhere else before, and truth be told, maybe since.