Our fathers were veterans of WWII, so we baby boomers had toy guns. While others played “War” in the dense woods nearby, we played “Library.”
Diane lived 2 doors down. She was the youngest of her family, and was surrounded by books.
Clipart Image
On a sunny day, we took plastic shelves out onto her back patio, filled them with books and games, and set up shop.
We made library cards, enrolling the interested neighbors, mostly ourselves.
Index cards were used to identify each item, a rolling rubber date stamp marked the card at “check out”.
Most of the books came back in the very same day. We charged for late returns, maybe a penny.
At the end of the day, or when rain clouds appeared, we dismantled the whole operation.
It seems we never considered moving indoors, or maybe her parents did not allow for that. I guess we were bookworms who appreciated fresh air and sunshine.
It lasted most of the summer, but only for that one year. Some developed muscle tone, and joined in the ongoing softball game in the next yard. I did not, but was dragged into the game by an older sister who was charged with including me.
My interest in words, books, libraries never really ended. The local public library remained a quiet refuge for me until high school.
I had the opportunity to explore some of the best ones on the east coast; the New York Public Library, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the largest of all in terms of volume, the Congressional Library in Washington DC.
The one on my bucket list is the Clementinum in Prague, Czech Republic.
There are images of beautiful structures, amazing painting and sculpture in libraries all over the world, but none surpasses this one for me.
Named for a chapel dedicated to St. Clement in the 11th century, it dates back to a Dominican monastery, a Jesuit college, and was established as an observatory, library and university by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in 1773. With its Baroque architecture, and oil-painted ceiling, it remains as the Czech National Library.
vanbytheriver 
Looking at those treasures from the past makes one feel rather sad at the destruction of ancient relics during times of unrest…. which is going on as we blog. 😦
You’re so right. These all need to be preserved/restored. Such beauty and history. 💘
I also took refuge in the local library when I was a kid. I loved walking down the aisles, surrounded by words.
From a chaotic household, I found peace and quiet there. I can remember how it felt, how it smelled. I used to take the public bus to get there. Sweet. 💝
So cute to imagine you setting up the backyard library 🙂 I’d love to go to the Czech library too. How magical and stunning is that!
Amazing. If you google “world’s best libraries”, it comes up as one of the best, and often, the most beautiful. 💗
That’s exactly what I did after reading your post and I agree!
Love this Van! I can just picture 2 girls working hard at being good librarians!
We were pretty serious about it all, Val. At least, that summer. We were 8-10 yr. old. 📚
Public libraries are up there with sewerage systems as a sign of civilised living. We are lucky to have Carnegie libraries around here in South London; such a brilliant gift from one of you guys to we Londoners..
He was from Pittsburgh…they are very proud of him ! But..about the sewers…I’ll skip that tour. 😱
I love sewers sadly. When you visit van I’ll take you to see a Victorian masterpiece – the Temple of Sewerage and you’ll fall in love
…
Thanks, Geoff. I don’t know whether to smile..or be afraid ???
The latter pahahahahah
Looks fabulous. I was a librarian at school, and most breaks you would find me in the library. My section (latin and classics) being the first in was visible through the class from the corridor, so I made sure ‘the display’ was changed every few days. Funny though I never fancied it as a career.
In junior high, I joined the Library Club. Wasn’t sure it would ever be a career option for me either ?? I still enjoy them, and “real” books. 📖
I prefer a book to trying to read a screen as sometimes I can’t focus very well. (Also Kindles don’t bounce very well, neither do they make good table supports LOL).
All true !
You were a creative child. 🙂 What a beautiful library. I love the painted, barrel vault ceiling. 🙂
It is a vision of beauty, antiquity. Thanks, Laura. ❤️
Such a lovely “game” idea you two girls had! Wow! Thank you for sharing these pics. Yes, our Maria Theresia was great and she made going to school an obligation in Austria! There is a beautiful monastery close to Vienna. It was built around the same time as the one in Czechia. Here is the library (hope it works):
I picture everything about Austria as being beautiful, Erika, buildings, landscape, mountains, etc.🏔 The library pic did not come through…thanks for trying. 💕
Yay….it did come through…I didn’t scroll down far enough. Beautiful !! Thanks.
Oh no, that’s a shame because I saw it showing up after I posted the comment. That’s strange. But it looks pretty similar in style like the ones you posted. Glad you like so much about my country, Van 😃
I would still like to play like this. Love this.
💖 💘 💝 It could happen, and thanks.
We played Davy Crockett, but not Library. I suppose that’s because we had the coonskin cap, while you had the date stamp. Did you guys share stamping duty? I can imagine that if I played Library, I would have been rather bossy about the stamp.
Hope you make it to Prague.
If I remember, the girl who brought the date stamp got first dibs. We all were pretty bossy, in a librarian sort of way.☺ Thanks, Maggie. 💕
“Bookworms who appreciated fresh air and sunshine.” Love that. Such an enchanting post including those beautiful photos, Van. What fond memories! And I laughed at the “muscle tone” reference!
Libraries have always been part of my life; raised my kids in them as part of our daily schedule. They attended story time and participated in reading clubs up until about middle school. They really are priceless institutions that offer so much to people at any age. xo
Our local libraries are striving to keep the electronic- aged kids interested. One of them brings puppies to their story time events…smart. ❤️ Thanks, Kelly. Still working on that muscle tone. ☺
Aren’t we all! Have a wonderful day. xoxo
💖 For sure. You do the same, Kelly.
Marvelous post, Van. I remember the tiny one-room library at the school (which also housed grades 1-8) in the little town of my birth. When I was in 7th grade the community built (in a completely separate building — we were astounded!) a library next to the school. It seemed huge at the time, but of course was actually quite small. But I remember my awe at entering the quiet, almost mystical seeming place. I’ve loved libraries ever since. Have a thriving Thursday.
The tone, theme, ambiance was the same, no matter how big or small those libraries were. Ours was a steelworker’s community, but the founders dedicated a beautiful old, 2-story structure quite early. When they rebuilt, it became/still is a psychiatrists’ office. 💘 Thanks, Teagan.
Did you whisper his at each other?
Ha ha…no. I think we were competing with lawn mowers, traffic, barking dogs, etc. 💗
A well crafted post, Van
Thank you, Derrick. 💝
I was never aware of this magnificent library. Sharing the wealth of information along with the beauty in art and architecture with our children would open their EYES and MINDS to a different reality they are exposed to and live today. Using a creative approach in the classroom (such as asking children to DESCRIBE ALL aspects of a library) and then sharing these images would elicit a natural emotional reaction.
Thank you for sharing one of your passions and for exposing such magnificence to all of us!
My pleasure, Doc. Thanks for your comment. 💝
That was a beautiful post Van.. for me I played shop with the leaves and seeds from the garden.. Books have leaves, and sow the seeds of knowledge .. Without libraries where would we be..
Love BOOKS.. 🙂 xxx ❤
You were always a gardener, Sue. 💖
Wouldn’t it be nice to once visit libraries like the ones you shared the pictures above? So beautiful. Your story about playing librarians made me smile. It’s not in any way related to your post but one summer a friend of mine and myself decided to collect snails and sell them according to their size. We ended up making what would be equal to 65 bucks… still not sure why anyone would have bought snails but hey, we were two little girls with a business idea, two bicycles, lots of snails and big smiles… and we were on a mission 😉
That’s fabulous…you should be proud. The only $ we made was when we returned soda bottles collected on the side of country roads…for a 2 cent deposit ! ☺ Thanks, Sandra. 💘
That’s pretty cool though too!
Gorgeous libraries. I played a lot of things as a kid but never library. Very unique..:)
I played war, too. I was ok with that toy rifle, but my heart was with the books. Thanks, George. 💛 💙 💜
OH that is beautiful! I’ve seen one I like better, but I can’t think of what it was… It was foreign as well. The ceilings though, OH MY, those ceilings!
There are quite a few beauties in Europe, Asia and South America, all of them very old, and reflecting a great respect for the written word. 📙 📚 📖
I think the one I liked was European…I will pay better attention next time.
Look at that magnificent beauty. I would be lost in there for days trying to soak in as much words as possible. It’s such a pity that libraries like this have become extinct.
Agreed, and I hope there is constant effort to preserve these, J. Thanks. 💙 💜
I’ve heard of a lot of lemonade stands, but this is a first! How brilliant of you girls to think of doing a library stand. 🙂
Maybe it was “thinking outside the box” for us, Laura. Thanks.
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Thank you, Julie.