Many years ago I dreamt of having a house with it's own library. I even designed one. Three stories, the library took up the whole second floor. I think I was twelve.
I had my first library card when I was about nine or ten. My sister and I used to take the street car to the Holmesburg library. Yes in the late 1940-'s, two little girls could ride the trolley safely by themselves. The first books I remember checking out were about race horses: Man Of War and Citation. Hers were about dogs by Albert Payson Terhune. We went to public school for the first few years. I started Catholic school in the fifth grade, my sister was in 4th grade. The nuns always gave us a list of "preferred" reading over the summer. Then we would need to do a report of some sort on what we had read. One summer I was into historical novels. One of the book's I read was Scaramouche. The nun gave me a hard time about that one. Didn't believe I read it or understood it. I told her the story. Apparently it was not on anyone's "preferred list" and might even have been forbidden. 70 years later, I don't remember the story at all. I do know they made a movie out of it. I believe Stewart Granger was the star. I've never seen the movie.
I loved reading. Early in my reading career, I found three books that my mother had. Romance novels by Faith Baldwin. In my teens I discovered Zane Grey and Bret Harte. I read as many of their stories as I could find. It was many years before I got to travel to Texas and Wyoming to see the places they wrote about. In the fifties, my Mom was a big fan of westerns and watched every one that was on TV. It was overkill, now I can't watch westerns.
We moved to Frankford when I was about twelve. A neighbor gave me her collection of Nancy Drew mysteries. The originals from the 20's and 30's. Mysteries became a big part of my reading.
I have managed to have a small library at home and usually a library card. My current card works in many libraries in the area. When I could drive and get around easily, I visited them all.
We moved to Hanover Park in 1968. My friend Audrey introduced me to Harlequin romances. Paper back novels about trials and tribulations of assorted lovers. Our local library had an exchange program. Bring in as many paper backs as you could and take home as many paper backs as you wanted. Audrey drove back then and I didn't. So she would go to the library and bring home a sack full of paper backs for us to read. She would read them first and then bring me the sack. We devoured them. I had four little kids back then between the ages of six years and six months. My husband often worked overtime. The only thing I watched on TV was Perry Mason, after the kids were all in bed. I don't think he was on every night like he is now but he may have been. I had two hobbies when the kids were small: sewing and reading. Both of which were usually done after they went to bed at 8:00 p.m.
The Hanover Park Library was an all volunteer group then. I eventually became a volunteer and I loved it. But that's another edition.
Somewhere along the line, I discovered Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout, another series of books that I read everything I could find. Others that I've read: The Luis Menzoza mysteries by Del Shannon; Amanda Pepper series by Gillian Roberts; Inspector Luke Thanet series by Dorothy Simpson. Again, I read all that I could find. That last I discovered when I was researching my English ancestors who happened to be from Kent, England. I also read many of James Herriot's stories about his life as a veterinarian in Yorkshire, England.
Then I discovered Genealogy. The books are limitless.
I had my first library card when I was about nine or ten. My sister and I used to take the street car to the Holmesburg library. Yes in the late 1940-'s, two little girls could ride the trolley safely by themselves. The first books I remember checking out were about race horses: Man Of War and Citation. Hers were about dogs by Albert Payson Terhune. We went to public school for the first few years. I started Catholic school in the fifth grade, my sister was in 4th grade. The nuns always gave us a list of "preferred" reading over the summer. Then we would need to do a report of some sort on what we had read. One summer I was into historical novels. One of the book's I read was Scaramouche. The nun gave me a hard time about that one. Didn't believe I read it or understood it. I told her the story. Apparently it was not on anyone's "preferred list" and might even have been forbidden. 70 years later, I don't remember the story at all. I do know they made a movie out of it. I believe Stewart Granger was the star. I've never seen the movie.
I loved reading. Early in my reading career, I found three books that my mother had. Romance novels by Faith Baldwin. In my teens I discovered Zane Grey and Bret Harte. I read as many of their stories as I could find. It was many years before I got to travel to Texas and Wyoming to see the places they wrote about. In the fifties, my Mom was a big fan of westerns and watched every one that was on TV. It was overkill, now I can't watch westerns.
We moved to Frankford when I was about twelve. A neighbor gave me her collection of Nancy Drew mysteries. The originals from the 20's and 30's. Mysteries became a big part of my reading.
I have managed to have a small library at home and usually a library card. My current card works in many libraries in the area. When I could drive and get around easily, I visited them all.
We moved to Hanover Park in 1968. My friend Audrey introduced me to Harlequin romances. Paper back novels about trials and tribulations of assorted lovers. Our local library had an exchange program. Bring in as many paper backs as you could and take home as many paper backs as you wanted. Audrey drove back then and I didn't. So she would go to the library and bring home a sack full of paper backs for us to read. She would read them first and then bring me the sack. We devoured them. I had four little kids back then between the ages of six years and six months. My husband often worked overtime. The only thing I watched on TV was Perry Mason, after the kids were all in bed. I don't think he was on every night like he is now but he may have been. I had two hobbies when the kids were small: sewing and reading. Both of which were usually done after they went to bed at 8:00 p.m.
The Hanover Park Library was an all volunteer group then. I eventually became a volunteer and I loved it. But that's another edition.
Somewhere along the line, I discovered Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout, another series of books that I read everything I could find. Others that I've read: The Luis Menzoza mysteries by Del Shannon; Amanda Pepper series by Gillian Roberts; Inspector Luke Thanet series by Dorothy Simpson. Again, I read all that I could find. That last I discovered when I was researching my English ancestors who happened to be from Kent, England. I also read many of James Herriot's stories about his life as a veterinarian in Yorkshire, England.
Then I discovered Genealogy. The books are limitless.
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