public library, my beloved

ages 10 to 16 i lived at my local public library. that was my second home. it's tiny and old, as every other public space in tiny old cities tend to be. it probably hasn't updated their books since 2010. it grows only when people donate 3 books once every 10 years. but still: one of my favorite places on earth, i only have good memories there. it helped me discover so many worlds and it single-handedly got me into reading. 

so you can imagine how happy i was when my little cousin (leader of the iPad kid generation) asked me to please take her there. we made a whole day out of it. it was so much fun and she loved looking around and touching every book. she is now an official member of the library ! !! a proper citizen. 

imagine that ! a place full of books and social spaces for free. you can just go there and spend the whole day sitting around, reading, drawing, thinking, studying. for free !! you can even take books home with you ! for. free. we don't have enough save, comfort spaces. almost every other social places force you to pay for something, everything costs money and its loud and overwhelming. not the library tho ! !!

we spend a good chonk of hour time looking thru books and pointing at ugly drawings telling each other: "look ! it's you !!" as sisters are suppose to do, 

i judged some on the shelving choices, like labeling the after saga blue (12-15y/o) and putting it right next to books like sherlock, lupin y yo (a sherlock holmes retelling for 9 y/o kids) and peter pan, 

and i let her look thru some manga she probably shouldn't look at, which in my opinion is also a very core library memory,

 

it's winter and today was very cold and rainy but i told her in spring i will take her there walking (it's like a 1h walk from home but we're european so to me that's walkable). i think its very necessary she knows her way there by herself, so she can visit anytime she wants like i used to. that way she can actually read books she isn't suppose to. i didn't tell her that, of course. don't get me wrong i'm like the cool aunt and i'm very happy she trusts me with almost everything, all of her thoughts, and felling and mischief and fears. she is save with me and she knows it. but i will never be a bad influence. she should be naughty on her own or with her peers.

(sighs) i miss being a kid sometimes, reading fanfics i shouldn't even be close to, playing spooky games that kept me up for weeks, illegally downloading anime i shouldn't be watching. everything was new and exciting.

anyways, did your local library also raised you ? what's a book you read there that changed your life ? (mine was probably the mortal instruments saga)