Dear Kid,

Today is Book Lovers Day.

Um, why?

There are some things that just seem too obvious to talk about.

I mean, we don’t have a National Take a Breath Day (do we? I don’t think we do). We don’t have a National Blink Your Eyes Every Now and Then Day. We don’t have Love Your Pancreas Day. We just do those things.

So why do we need Book Lovers Day?

In my not so humble opinion, EVERY day should be a book-infused day. Everybody should take time to read on a regular basis. And not just texts (I know people read those on a regular basis. But “C U L8R” is not the same as “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” or “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” (Penalty points if you can’t identify both of those.)

It’s a little different when you’re in college; I get that. You spend a LOT of time (I hope) reading for classes, doing homework, and studying.

Hopefully when you have a break (summer, winter, etc.) you’ll occasionally pick up a book and read it.

Or, maybe since you haven’t started classes yet, you’ll take a moment or two today to celebrate.

Enjoy.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

I’ve been thinking about libraries lately. I’ve also been visiting the library a fair amount.

Libraries—at least in this neck of the woods—are air conditioned. This may not seem very important, but it is, so I’m bothering telling you so (extra points if you get the reference).

The weather here has turned ridiculously, sweat-inducingly hot. And if one has a car without air conditioning, libraries are a delightful place to go for a bit without feeling obligated to buy a cup of over-caffeinated coffee.

Actually, libraries are delightful no matter what the weather. One of the first jobs I ever had was working at the library (I’m guessing when we lived in Poughkeepsie) and I volunteered (I’m guessing) and reshelved books (I’m positive).

The word is library. Not lie-berry, lie-barry, or even librarary, although librarary will probably make me smile.

Five Fun Facts About Libraries

• 68 percent of Americans have a library card.
• Americans check out more than 2 billion items each year from their public libraries; the average user takes out more than seven books a year.
• There are more public libraries than McDonald’s in the US, yet Americans spend more than twice as much on candy as they do on public libraries
• The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, is the largest library in the world, with more than 155.3 million items on approximately 838 miles of bookshelves. People say you can go all sorts of place when you read, but you can travel the distance (as the shelf stacks) from the Library of Congress to Memphis, TN without leaving the building. The cultural trip might be more difficult.
• The smallest book in the Library of Congress is “Old King Cole.” It is 1/25” x 1/25”, or about the size of the period at the end of this sentence.

More about libraries tomorrow my dear.

In the meantime, enjoy a good book.

Love, Mom