The Library

In fifth grade, I had my first dream job: assistant to Mrs. Carroll, school librarian, on Tuesdays during lunch. This was 1968, when checking in and checking out involved a little card in a little pocket affixed to the inside of a book cover. I filed those little cards in the check-out drawer, returned them to their sturdy pockets, shelved books (after Mrs. C decided my alphabetization skills were up to snuff), and—most deliciously—got first peek at new books. The job cemented my love of whole new worlds contained between covers. When I grew up I became an editor, a writer, a librarian.

“Walking the stacks in a library, dragging your fingers across the spines – it's hard not to feel the presence of sleeping spirits.”—Robin Sloan

“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”—Mark Twain

The early stages of designing a home are giddy, filled with what-ifs and maybes. For some: Maybe a swimming pool. Maybe a balcony. Maybe a workout room. Maybe an art studio. Maybe a Japanese garden. Maybe a horse barn. Maybe a kitchen with enough equipment to run a restaurant.

Maybe a library.

“A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people – people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book."—E.B. White

I have a lot of books. When you've work for publishers and libraries for three decades, and when you love the look and feel and smell and promise of a book, it's easy to amass thousands. While packing for the move to Madison, I weeded the collection, reducing it by more than half. Friends took bags of them, the Mary Riley Styles public library took boxes. Still, more than 50 cartons made it onto the van to Wisconsin.

Some of my what-ifs didn't make it to the finish. A screen porch. A front porch big and friendly enough for a table and a swing. But the library is there. It's the first thing you see when you come through the front door.

Evening View. Note the cool light effect and the requisite librarian's cardigan on the desk chair.