Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Finding my happy place


These days, it is hard to find a good happy place. My definition of a happy place is where I can go when I am having a bad day or need to get away from the newspaper. My apartment doesn’t count. 

The library is my happy place. When I am upset, I can go there in the quiet cool that is filled with books and magazines. Walking through the stacks instantly brings my stress level down. With the exception of the library personnel  knowing me, I can walk around anonymously.  In those moments, I am not newspaper girl but just a lady in the library. Before I lived in RR, I collected libraries. I had cards to libraries big, small and in between. If I read a review of a book in Entertainment Weekly, I could be reading it in about two weeks. Those were some good times.

Things are different here. The county I live in is a tier one county, which means we are poor. It also means libraries in terms of priorities for the city and county do not get much funding. 
When I moved here, it wasn’t the fact there was no Target or bookstore that bothered me.  It was how different the libraries were from where I came from. It was an adjustment and took me six months to decide on  getting a card. 

I have adopted libraries as my thing as a reporter. I put them in my beat as education reporter. I write a lot of stories about the events and needs of the library. Why? It is my way of thanking the library for what it gives me. It gives me access to the latest Dean Koontz books for free. I am able to buy current magazines for 10 cents, paperbacks for 50 cents and hardback books for $2 or $3. And it is my happy place. 

Unfortunately, my going to library in RR will cost me $20 at the end of the year. I live right outside of RR city limits so a library card cost $20. I will still be able to go there but will not be able to check out books. And least there is no price on happiness.

DAILY DOSE
1. Having the best piece of chicken, coleslaw, green beans and cake for lunch EVER. I will dream about this meal.

2. Feeling all cute in my $4 dress from Goodwill. 

3. Having a good day 2 days in a row!

2 comments:

  1. I rarely buy books. They are so expensive and then what are you going to do with them all after you read them? I love Libraries too; although I haven't been going like I used to. No matter how little money I had it was one place I could still go and pick out what I wanted and then it kept me entertained at home free. Sorry your libraries are not the same.

    ReplyDelete
  2. All of us Squares in the family enjoy the library. My daughter volunteers there every week. If I drive her there, I'll usually spend the entire hour reading or browsing the stacks. That's usually the fastest hour of the week for me, too.

    We're very lucky that our library is part of a network that shares books through an Inter-Library Lending program. If I want to borrow a book that's not in our town's library, I'll usually find it somewhere in the network.

    ReplyDelete

A whole new world

Well, it is official. I am the mom of a sixth grader. I can't believe JJ has grown up so fast. It seemed like yesterday that he was ...
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