February is...

With February comes the time when love is in the air...love of family, home, friends, pets and of course, better half! It doesn't stop there either. What about the love of books? Yeah! Love of reading like what you are doing right now over the Internet instead of pouring over a novel. Let's move away from cyberspace and focus on that novel or perhaps book of poetry. What better place to find solitude and travel in your mind to any place in the world you would like to be than the library!

 

The children's room at the Carnegie Library’s main branch in the early 20th century.

Guess what? We are moving into a new month and February is...

MONTH

The rules for this month delegate for you to hug your favorite library! Well, Hugs, Hugs, & More Hugs do go right along with love. This month being Library Lovers Month seems to have come at just the right time. Many local libraries are struggling due to economic downturn. Not to mention, there is also a decline in library usage, especially with the Internet being so readily available. Yet, reading via cyberspace is just not the same as holding a book in your hand!

Here are a few questions to ponder...

When was the last time you visited your local library?
When was the last time you read a book...held that book in your hand?
When have you enjoyed some peace and serenity?
When have you experienced positive energy flowing through your veins?
When have you relaxed in your favorite place of solitude?

As you ponder each of these questions, place yourself in the library. Consider it a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Does it trigger thoughts of security, peace and quiet? Are the people around you likeminded with each of you desiring to seek and acquire some new-found knowledge? 

Sounds like a good place to be, doesn't it?

Let's don't stop there. We are on a roll! You don't have to go alone. Go with your significant other, friend, or better still, take your son or daughter, grandson, granddaughter, nephew, niece...oh, my, this is getting exciting! Where IS the closest library? Perhaps it is one offering an essence of grandeur or simple spaces for solitude. 

The library holds history written as fact, fiction, tales, and fables.

Suzzallo Library, Seattle, Washington
One of the Greatest Libraries of the World

American Library Collection
commons.wikipedia.org

 37 Home Library Design Ideas

It’s important to understand that not everything is available on the internet (yet), libraries can have vast digital stores of qualitative and quantitative information escaping from opinion led snippets and snapshots from online. There may be some crossover of information but in most cases libraries are a much more economically viable solution when looking for information than the Internet.

Love your library for what it is, a community meeting place or treasure trove of ideas. Why not push against the declining attendance of libraries and go and learn something new that will expand your knowledge of who you are, of where you live or what you do?
Source: Days of the Year

Today is Take Your Child to the Library Day

What’s in a Book?

Pictures, stories, poems and more

A world opens up to explore

Animals, insects and frogs thrive

Visions of numbers come alive

Bedtime stories and fairy tales

Sugarplums and fairies cure all ails

Mystery and amazement to ponder

Imagination makes one wonder

Lessons to be learned, places to practice

Respect, charity, humility and justice

Love and honor; experiences to encounter

Emotions bring tears or laughter

Travel back in time, forward into the future

Much to explore about life and nature

So many questions, where to find the answers

Turn the pages for new adventures

Watch the gleam in a child’s eyes

For a ‘novel’ idea, try this exercise

Find a book every chance you can

Place it right into a child’s hand

© 2004 Echoes
Sharla Lee Shults

First on the Calendar: LOTS happenin' today!