A Place of Refuge

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, and all the sweet serenity of books.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The library.
I dedicate this post to all the libraries where, by nature, they are a place of refuge from the loud, fast paced world. A library invites you to come in and explore books. To rest among the pages of knowledge and story that surrounds you on shelves. The quiet holds you and the books beckon.

The library is a place where your thoughts have room to wander around a multitude of books, which contains myriads of worlds and ideas.

I have always been fascinated by libraries. When I was a child in elementary school, I loved going to the school library. I remember going as often as I could, and I went alone almost every time (how did I get out of class?) I would go to a few specific shelves that contained my favourite authors. I would be eager to see if there were any new books on the shelf that I hadn't read yet, and if there was, I would pull it off the shelf to check it out right away.

Books held so much possibility to me. They were full of stories, ideas, new words, and imaginative scenes. I did not realize it then, of course, but something I loved was the use of my imagination as I read. The story was written on the pages, but the world became real in my imagination.

This library, above, is the Selby Public Library in downtown Sarasota. I was there this past weekend, and could not resist taking some time to visit a spot I am always eager to enter.