My love for libraries

My earliest memories of a library is of course that of my school library. I remember it to be very spacious, well stocked with books and with lots of natural light streaming in.

My favorite place in the library was in a corner near a big window overlooking the biggest field of our school. This was the place where I would go, sit and spend an hour of our weekly library period. That weekly library period used to be such a treat for me. I loved spending time reading a book enjoying the silence, the smell, the light.

I viewed my school library as a fortress which had rows and rows of books inside it. Rows and rows of books that held the capacity to fuel my imagination. It was a place that opened up windows for me, to different stories written by different authors from different eras. 

I used to be an enthusiastic reader at that time. Not that I am less now. I do read enthusiastically whenever I come across a book that appeals to me. In our school, every student was allowed to borrow a book every week from the library. That book needed to be returned the following week so that you could borrow a new one.

I love reading. It's magical to lose yourself in a book, in the storyline and the characters. Whenever I finish reading a book it's always a bittersweet feeling. It's a realization that the story has ended and its time to say goodbye to the book.

My love for reading used to make me finish my freshly borrowed book in two to three days and then exchange my book with one of my friends. And then, there were other friends of mine, who I knew were borrowing books and not reading them. So I used to ask them for their library book which they would give without even bothering to ask for mine. Great friends they were!

So on an average I was reading two books every week and sometimes even three. The books that I read were like treasure houses. Every book took me on a new journey. Those reading experiences nurtured my dreams. They inspired me to look beyond the situations I was exposed to. 

My love for libraries and books continued after I went to college. The only difference was that I was reading medical books most of the time. Almost everyday I used to head to our college library after our classes got over. And I was back into my favorite mode, reading in the library enjoying the silence, the smell, the light!