Above is a picture of the Austin History Center, formerly the Austin Public Library. I recently read The Library Book and enjoyed the author's memories of visiting her hometown library with her mother. Her stories evoked my own memories of the Austin Public Library, the first of many libraries I have known. I remember my very first trip to the library, getting my first library card (Number N2852, yes, I remember that, too) and the first book I checked out: Where is Adelaide?, one of Eliza Orne White's many books about young children. Every chapter began, "Where is Adelaide?"
Thinking about that book, I searched for it on Amazon. Of course it was there. (I suppose if something isn't on Amazon, it doesn't exist.) I ordered a copy. The faded brownish orange volume sits on my desk, a memory of the library with its dozens of treasures to choose from, its large children's room with arched windows looking out on Guadalupe Street, even its "library smell," a combination of polished wood tables, paper and print.
Alas, libraries are no longer a part of my life. They have been supplanted by technology and now I read on Kindle. Such is life.
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