When I was asked to write about Springfield Public Library’s 100th anniversary, my first thought was, “Hey, in spite of all these laugh lines in this ‘mature’ face, I haven't been around for 100 years. ”But then I hadn't done the math, and it gave me pause when I realized I had been connected to the Springfield Library for 43 years.
I grew up in North Plains, a small community of about 300 people about 20 miles west of Portland. I loved books and reading, but we had neither a school nor a community library.
I read and reread the few golden books I had and my beloved copy of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales.”
By 9, I grew desperate for more reading material. I was limited in my search to the Reader’s Digest that came to our house monthly, filching my grandmother’s True Confession magazines and begging my imperious teenage sister to bring books home for me from her high school library.
I finally convinced my mother that I could get a library card for the “far off” Hillsboro Public Library, seven miles from home. I will never forget the feeling I had on my first visit to that old Carnegie two-story, yellow-brick library that I found imposing yet beautiful. I felt like I had found a second home. The Hillsboro Carnegie was my first library.
As newly marrieds, my husband and I moved to Springfield in 1965 and began our lives meshing parenthood and our careers.
I will never forget my first visit to the Springfield Public Library on Fourth and A Street our first week in town. I felt like I had come home again.
It wasn’t just the unimposing but charming building, the thousands of books, the welcoming people or that I was certain it was the library my children-to-be would grow up in. It had to do with some indiscernible something that touched my soul.
When I walked through the door, maybe I could feel the love of books and knowledge by people such as Elizabeth Page, that driving force that had created and sustained the library for more than 50 years. Page, the schoolteacher for whom one of Springfield’s schools is named, had been the volunteer secretary of the Springfield Library Board from 1917 to 1951.
Many years later, on my 1,000th or 2,000th visit, I had those same strong sensations walking hand in hand into the library with my 5-year-old grandson, Dominic. We were on a mission to find scary stories.
At his house, he’d introduced me to “The Giant Toe” by Babette Cole. Now, I was going to introduce him to “Talking Eggs” and “Bony-legs.” I pulled those two books off the shelf, and he wanted to hear them immediately.
We scrunched down together in the aisle between shelves, his “bony legs” draped over mine, and we read and read. With new titles to grab, right at our fingertips we were both blissful.
When we left that day, I dreamed about a future when Dominic and my other grandchildren would come back to the library, and I was so pleased thinking about all the wonderful books we would share.
We have a wonderful library in our community to celebrate: 150,000 books, CDs and DVDs; Internet access; amazing databases; frequent new technology; family literacy programs; fun and enriching adult and children’s programs; and a knowledgeable, welcoming staff.
These elements are all things that we library lovers are passionate about and should be celebrated. And for me, it is the simple pleasures of sharing books with children and believing books make a difference in their lives that sustains my spirit and my love for our Springfield Public Library.
This April, my library is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a full month of special events, including a gala for our community from noon to 3 p.m. April 12. There will be a juggler, live music, Clifford the Big Red Dog and birthday cake for all.
There also will be author visits from Kate Wilhelm and Judy Sierra and more community events. I’ll be there.
HHHH
Judy Harold was a Springfield librarian for more than 26 years. She remains dedicated to helping minds grow in Springfield.
The sculpture in front of the library is called the Balancing Act, a gymnast doing a handstand on a rhino with a bird of prey on his foot by artist Jerry Williams. It's whimsical and fun. The fountain in front of the library was installed for Springfield's 100th birthday and is called the Centennial Fountain.