The NYR theme for February is LAUGH …
What are some of the stories and written jokes that have made you laugh over the years?
14th February is Library Lovers Day and the date for the official launch of the 2012 National Year of Reading. Watch out for reports of national and regional events in the media.
At the Grenfell Library call in on the 14th for a Blind Date with a Book. There will be a selection of books taken off the shelf and wrapped and you are invited to select one to take home and read. Being wrapped, it will be a ‘blind’ pick, but this could open the way to a new author or even a new genre. I ask that you read at least the first chapter ….
The Reading Ambassador for
February is your librarian
My very first memory of reading is a very pleasurable one, of sitting in the sun on the verandah nestled against Dad’s arm with my younger brother on the other side and Dad reading aloud “The Magic Pudding”. Poor Dad, I can still remember him complaining that his throat was sore but that didn’t stop us urging him to keep reading. I don’t know that we even understood all of the story - I guess I was around three-and-a-bit at the time - but it gave rise to a wonderful feeling of closeness and security. All young children deserve to be read to….
I did my primary schooling by correspondence and so reading (and writing) was always both important and familiar. By the time I started school I knew all my sounds (“A says ‘a’ as in apple, B says ‘b’ as in ball” etc.) and could read simple three letter words. The leaflets from the Correspondence School came with instructions for the home supervisor in ordinary print and some simple ones for the student in large print but within a few weeks I could read most of the words in the instructions as well. It was magical how the letters came together to make sense. And there was the constant cry of “Mum (or Dad), what’s this word?” when phonics wasn’t enough …
I was fortunate in that I never found reading difficult and indeed read most of “Little Women” at the age of seven. Not that I understood all of it but I can remember crying buckets when the pet bird died (more than when Beth did I fancy). Living a fairly isolated life and with no TV and minimal radio, reading was a wonderful time filler and window on the wider world throughout my childhood. I can remember reading with great interest information about remote and little-known countries – maybe that was the genesis of my current travel adventures! I don’t think anyone at any age can be bored when there are books available be they in print, audio or electronic format.
It wasn’t too long before our parents registered both my brother and I at the Grenfell Library. The family came into town once every week or so for shopping and to visit Grandma and one of the highlights of the day was going to the library and getting new books. We were limited to three each but naturally I read my brother’s three as well my own. The first couple of chapters were demolished in the car on the way home and reading in bed was the norm. I can remember reading six books one Sunday – although maybe it is the resultant eyestrain that I recall most clearly!
When I was a child the Grenfell Library was located in the School of Arts building, where the Museum is now, and Lyn Cook was the librarian. The children’s books were in a separate room leading off the main library space, with picture books on one side and chapter books (no paperbacks then or at least very few) on the other. It was a rite of passage when I was allowed to choose books from the adult area – I was probably round twelve. I started with mysteries which I still enjoy and Ward Lock romances – which were more story and less explicit in those days …..
In senior high school and at university most reading was, naturally, of text books and set articles but Sunday was reserved for leisure reading and usually a couple of books would be enjoyed. I would read the first few pages of whatever book was first in line for Sunday after finishing Saturday’s homework just to get the appropriate sense of anticipation. Once into working life Sundays were still a good opportunity and also at meal-times – when you live alone the current book is a great meal companion …. Today I actually read very little - there is never enough time!! - but I look forward to retirement when I have time to read some of the books which tempt me now as I process them at the front desk.
Books have always been for me a companion, an antidote to boredom, and a source of new ideas and vicarious experiences. And of course printed information and reference material is the solution in so many need-to-know situations. How does one prepare to holiday in Mali/set the clock in the car/choose plants for the garden/understand how electricity works without reading relevant books, articles or websites? And the written word allows you to reflect on and enjoy the ideas of others without the time constraints and social pressures of verbal interaction influencing your response.
Some thoughts on reading on which to reflect …
A. Richard Steele, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
B. Michael Foot, “Men of power have no time to read; yet the men who do not read are unfit for power.”
C. Charles Lamb, “I love to lose myself in other men’s minds. When I am not walking I am reading: I cannot sit and think. Books think for me.”
D. Rene Descartes, “The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest persons of past centuries”.
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