Passing on the Love of Reading

Here's a borrowed post from Ime Morales, writer and super mom to Bowi, who wrote about the trip she had with her son to the Quezon City Public Library.

A Visit to the Good Ol' Library

One day he asked me this unexpected question: Mama, what's a library? (As a Waldorf student, Bowi hasn't been exposed to big libraries yet.)

When I was younger, during the pre-Internet era, libraries were a part of my life in a maaaaajor way. I used to go to the British Council, the National Library, Thomas Jefferson on Buendia, and Goethe Institut. These kids are missing a lot, I think. The romance of it all: going through the card catalog, holding the book in your hand, borrowing it from the librarian, returning it late, paying the fee, writing down your notes. It's all part of how I came to love books.

You don't get that by paying Google a visit.

And so I resolved to bring him to a real library. The closest one is the Quezon City Public Library. And guess what? He loved it! He was the only little person there. One of the librarians came up to us to ask what we're looking for.

Oh we're just looking around, I tell him. For his assignment? he asked. No, I said, he just wants to read.

The little guy was literally running around flitting from shelf to shelf like a butterfly darting from one flower to the next.

It was interesting, the crowd that afternoon. There were students, of course, but mostly the library users that day were senior citizens, mostly male. Reading newspapers, listening to audio books (I suppose they're audio books), writing down notes, reading through thick volumes, talking, using their phones. I suppose they were some of those who haven't really transitioned to doing research online.

It was refreshing to see them here. Bowi and all these lolos. Inside this old, not-so-quiet library.

He kept on looking for books on recycling.

I found a book to read, too! :)

Source: http://www.prinsesaimelda.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-visit-to-good-ol-library.html