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EnCompass®
The AAA Companion |
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November | December 2004
Volume 78 Issue 6
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Searching the Shelves
By Susan Damon
Perched on a stool next to a window overlooking Boulder Creek, I savor my cup of coffee and the quiet moment as my teenage children intently search the nearby library shelves for the books they hope to find this blustery winter afternoon. I have learned to appreciate the time required to search some of Colorado's greatest treasures-her public libraries.
My searches began in a small library in Craig when I was about seven and hoping to find The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse or another Thornton W. Burgess story that I hadn't read yet. After my family moved to Fort Collins, I acquired a library card to a grand old Carnegie library. Every two weeks in the summer, my best friend, Margaret, and I would ride our bicycles down the hill from South College Heights to this cool, dark sanctuary where we would spend hours competing to find the longest books (she won with The Once and Future King, by T.H. White).
After reading a Ray Bradbury short story in my high school English class, I raced to the more modern Loveland library, searching for The Martian Chronicles and beginning a focus on the science-fiction stacks. Huge Norlin Library on the CU Boulder campus offered me entire days sheltered in its hidden nooks, reading and studying.
Today, these libraries aren't as quiet, and our Boulder library even features a coffee shop, but they are still comforting places where my daughter is thrilled to discover the young-adult romance she wanted while my son is disappointed to find the latest entry in a favorite fantasy series has been checked out. He leaves knowing we will return until his search of the stacks yields his treasure.
Do you have a special memory or humorous story about living in Colorado? EnCompass is looking for original essays that capture the uniqueness of our state. Payment is $60 upon publication. Entries must be typed, double-spaced and 200-300 words. Please include a daytime phone number. Entries will not be returned. Mail to EnCompass, Attn: My Colorado, 4100 E. Arkansas Ave., Denver, CO 80222, or e-mail: editor@colorado.aaa.com. A response to a submission may take six to eight weeks.
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