I fell in love with books before I learned to read.

One of my earliest memories is being seated on a moss-green brocade couch with my twin sister at about age 4, our older sister between us reading library books aloud. Going to the public library in Morton, Ill., near our home was one of our favorite things to do. We loved wandering the aisles and snatching up as many books as our little arms could hold, lugging home favorites such as Be Nice to Spiders, Sammy the Seal, Are You My Mother?, Red Fish Blue Fish and The Little Fur Family, just to name a few. Syd Hoff, Margaret Wise Brown, Dr. Seuss and others wrote the stories that defined our childhood.

Later, when I could read for myself, I devoured chapter books – from the Nancy Drew series to the Chronicles of Narnia. I soon found that books carried me to a world far beyond the farm where I lived. I was transported to castles, boarding schools, big cities and other faraway places I could only visit through the power of reading.

In college, I had far less time for leisure reading. Instead, I holed up in the library on many a weekend with textbooks flanking me at a study carrel. Before the Internet, I researched old-school style – something Vanderbilt’s current students would understandably find archaic.

These days, people are reading more than ever. But technology has changed the way in which we read. Blogs and websites provide instantaneous updates on current events. Google searches take seconds. Smart phones, iPads and eReaders have changed how and where we read. Today there is unprecedented access to information that once only could be found by trekking to the library and perusing the card catalog.

However, technology – at least today and hopefully indefinitely – has not replaced the need for libraries. Our cover story (“Meet Me in the Library”)  on the renovation of Central Library is significant to me not only as a lover of books, but because I am raising a child in a society that increasingly devalues the printed word in favor of flashier media.

Dean of Libraries Connie Vinita Dowell understands there is no need to take sides. In fact, the renovations at Central Library ingeniously combine both worlds. Not only do they invite readers to linger over actual books in bright, open study spaces, but they showcase cutting-edge technology in which information can be accessed through touch screen displays.

Many of the planned renovations are complete, but more improvements – including a Community Room and
café – are set to be finished in the coming weeks.

Just about every Saturday I take my boy to the public library. We peruse the racks and lug home an enormous stack of books, which we parcel out to read each evening at bedtime. We get books about things he is interested in, such as sharks, dragons and bugs, or topics he is learning about in his pre-K class (this week it’s The Frog Prince.) Sometimes I think I enjoy it even more than he does.

I won’t be getting a Kindle anytime soon, but I am not totally against technology. After we pick out books, we play a video game or two at the library’s shared computer and even check out a couple of Scooby-Doo DVDs.

And at home, we play learning games online that help him identify his letters and numbers as the march toward kindergarten continues. But there is nothing in my mind that replaces the joy found inside the walls of a library and the books found there. It is where the imagination comes alive and magic begins.

Joan Brasher
Editor in Chief, Vanderbilt View 
view-editor@vanderbilt.edu 

Posted 10/01/10