The Internet Before the Internet

The room in the large glass-walled library would seem serenely quiet as my 8-year-old self would pull a book from the shelf and leaf through it to see if I wanted to check it out. The stillness seemed like reverence to me, church-like, as people moved with solemn purpose from the card catalog to the book shelves and back again or spoke in hushed tones to the matronly librarians, who were like priestesses in horn-rimmed glasses.  

"Do you wish to check this out?" they would intone.

"Yes, please" I would whisper in supplication.   

The library in Fullerton was at that time privately owned by the Hunts Food Company, maker of tomato ketchup, tomato sauce and other canned goods. The dark wood of it's modest Danish furniture brought a warmth to the glass and steel structure.  It sat on their corporate campus in the middle of wide expanses of manicured lawn divided by man-made streams and wide concrete walkways. I was allowed to use the library because my school was not far away.  

One of the best things about that library was that it sat right next to the railroad tracks and when a train passed by, the building shook and the floor seemed to sway, the roar of the passing train seemed even louder in contrast to the absolute stillness of the perusers and pursuers of knowledge. All these years later, the Hunts Library is now part of Fullerton's library system and anyone, especially train-loving eight-year-olds, can visit.

Libraries have always been great places for me. I am only an average reader but I am incessantly curious about things. I worked for a couple of years as a library assistant. It made me better at research and better at dealing with people. I repaired books, shelved books, put books in the system and took them out of the system., checked books out and checked books in, rented videos and helped children with schoolwork, taught the old folks how to use the computer and even locked up at night sometimes.  

Today, most of my research takes place at home on-line but I still request books, both physical and electronic, and music, and even DVDs from the library regularly. I never stop perusing or pursuing. The Belmont Shore library is just three blocks away. Sitting so close to the bay, it is a beautiful place to sit and read. Their collection is small but mighty and the librarians are friendly and helpful.  

The role of the library has changed since my early days. It was the Internet before there was an Internet. The library still provides a wealth of information, in ways I had never dreamed of as a curious eight-year-old. And though the form of information keeps changing, and there may come a day when books are not things with physical mass or girth, I will still feel reverence for the place that was once their home.