Remembering Bingham's Library

I attended elementary school at Bingham. Back then, our school library was in a tiny little room at the end of the first grade wing and was run by some PTA mothers. We visited once a week for check outs, but we didn't have lessons like students do today. There were no book displays, no flashy bulletin boards and certainly no computers. Just some metal shelves and a tile floor. We whispered in libraries back then, too.

If you walked into a library like that today, you'd probably think it was awful. But, the thing that draws me to a library in 2011 is the same thing that drew me there when I was ten. Books.

I like to read my favorites over and over again. I always have. In fact, the first book I ever wanted to read again was one I found at Bingham's library. I checked it out many, many times! It was Mary Mapes Dodge's Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates.

Since then I've found several more books that I've chosen to read again and again, but when I think back on my Bingham days, I remember looking for that red book on the shelf, writing my name on the card from the pocket in the back, watching the volunteer stamp the due date inside, and knowing I had in my hands a real treasure. It's a sweet memory to me, Bingham's Library.