tonight was one of those nights where i needed to get out of the house for a few minutes, and i ended up at the provo city library. i walked through a couple rows of book-lined stacks in the general fiction and eventually wandered into the children's wing. my original thought was to find an i spy book and curl up in a corner for a while.
i picked up i spy:extreme challenger and headed to said corners, but when i reached the comfy cushioned benches i found 1) sawdust-covered vomit and 2) signs that said "this area for reading children only (for security reasons)". obviously i knew i couldn't stick around vomit-absorbing sawdust for long, but i was also bewildered that the provo city library would need to put up such signs. it makes me sad that, apparently, creepy things have crept their way into the children's section of the public library.
i don;t know about you guys, but the library has always been a place where i felt safe and warm (just to be clear, i'm talking about public libraries here--i do not share the same sentiment for the harold b. lee library.). maybe that's because i love books so much, and what could be better than being surrounded by books?
i've always wanted this for my future kids, too. i plan on frequenting the local library and letting them loose on the picture books and then the chapter books and the newbery award winners and then eventually the general adult fiction (with the caution that you need to be very careful what you pick up...). i'm mad that i came to the realization tonight that bad, scary things can happen to kids in libraries. i will never let that happen! libraries are supposed to be one of the few havens left in the world, especially for me.
anyway, i'm not sure what this is. a call to action, maybe? raising awareness? i don't know, but i do know i left the library feeling a little disconcerted tonight, and i did not like it one bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment