One of my earliest memories is that of me sitting backwards on the floor in front of a church pew.  The hymnal was conveniently propped open on the pew in front of me.  I could not read but I was absolutely certain that the words on that page were the words to the Sesame Street song.  There was only one problem – the song that I heard the rest of the congregation singing was definitely not the Sesame Street song.   If only I could read I could prove to these crazy people that they had it all wrong…

           Maybe my desire to learn to read was born while watching my father quietly reading in his chair.  Or maybe it developed while listening to my mom read me a bedtime story.  Or maybe it was a less innocent desire – maybe a small jealousy of my older brother’s ability to read drove me to this aspiration!  But no matter the reason, one thing is certain - for as long as I can remember I have wanted to read! 

            As a child my thirst for stories was quenched by frequent trips to the library, bedtime storybooks, and my dad’s imaginative tales about Zero the dog.  I remember sitting on the floor at the library in front of the children’s bookshelf and rummaging through all the wonderful stories.  These shelves were like treasure chests for me and I was digging for gold!  I wish I could somehow recapture the childish joy that the discovery of a new Chuck E. Beaver or Berenstain Bear book brought to me!

            Kindergarten brought me an even greater desire to read as I was introduced to new words and began to learn to read by myself.  As a first grader, my mom and dad decided to home school my brother and I.  With this new style of education came even more afternoon trips to the library.  In addition to other visits, once every two weeks we attended home school day at the library.  This was a day when home school families from around the county would gather at the library to hear stories, make crafts, and check out books.  I was also involved in the annual Summer Reading and Book-It programs.

            As a middle elementary grade student, I began to read Nancy Drew and Babysitter Club books.  Several of my friends were also interested in these books so we decided to form our own book club.  Although our club was few in number, we were great in spirit!  We even designated members as President (to keep us all in line), Chief Artist (to make flashy posters for our club), Treasurer (to collect the monthly 50 cent dues), and Secretary (to send out nasty little letters to anyone who didn’t pay up)!  Our club was short-lived but we managed to have a good time while it lasted! 

As the club sputtered out and we began to approach the awe-inspiring teenage years, our interests shifted and our group of friends became smaller and tighter.  I began to read Joan Lowry Nixon and Lois Duncan books.  Our hangout switched from the bedroom book club meetings to the Junior Fiction aisle at our library. Every other Friday at home school day we would gather in that aisle and discuss everything from A Wrinkle in Time, to boys, to Secret, Silent Screams, to menstruation!  Just imagine - all this occurring right there amidst the best Junior fiction you can imagine! 

My love of reading has never ceased!  I have been surrounded with books since my birth and have been privileged to have a wonderful collection of memories that are somehow tied in with reading.  I have volunteered/worked at my county’s public library for the past 7 years and continue to expand my list of favorite titles and authors with each passing year.   Literacy is no doubt one of the windows that has opened my eyes and life to the wonderful world around me and to vast expanses of the imagination.