As a public youth librarian, I have the great honor and responsibility of organizing and executing the Summer Reading Program, along with my director and the children's librarian. This week I'll be going to the public school to tell my young patrons all about it, and I can't help but remember the summer reading programs of my youth.
It was one of my favorite things about summer. I was a voracious reader, and summer was that magical time where I could literally lie in bed for 6 hours and read an entire book. And back then, I didn't have a TBR or the Internet to tell me which books were good or bad, or which authors were popular. I browsed freely and often, finding books on the library shelves based solely on the back descriptions, and maybe a recommendation from a friend every once in a while.
And the excitement of the prizes! I loved filling out my little sheet with each book I read, earning myself raffle entries for gift certificates and other prizes from local businesses. Sometimes I would even get the call that I had won something, and I would beg my mom to bring me to the library so I could pick it up.
Funnily enough, the summer reading program for the kids in the town where I work is similar to what I remember from my childhood. I am hoping these kids will remember this summer reading program as fondly as I remember my own.
Did you all take part in your library's summer reading program? What do you remember best about it? Or did you just love to boundless possibilities summer brought?
Top Ten Best Bookish Memories (waiting in line for a new release, meeting an author, or some sort of great experience with a particular book that was unlike others)
Julia says:
My senior year of college I was sitting on the couch when I got a friend request. I look to see who it was and it was from Julia Quinn, one of my all time favorite romance novel authors. I was floored. I have no idea how she found me, but I accepted (this was before fan pages). Anyway, continuing on with the awesomeness. One day JQ put out a request for libraries. If they wanted international copies of her books, let her know and she'd send them the language they asked for. As I had just returned from China, I asked if I could nominate my library to get a Chinese book. She messaged me personally for my address and sent a copy of 書信傳深情 aka To Sir Philip, with Love. I have yet to make it more than a page through it, but getting that book was a seriously awesome bookish memory!
Jana says:
I went to a book signing at my local library for the Fierce Reads tour last summer. Anna Banks was the first in the line, and she totally knew who I was from my blog! Then I got to Leigh Bardugo, who asked me if my eyelashes were real, because they looked pretty awesome. (She has since remembered me at other events as the eyelash girl from Utah!). And Emmy Laybourne, even though I had never heard of her, had heard of me! This was the first time someone in the real world had recognized me from my blog, and they were authors! I kind of felt like a celebrity.
Tahleen says:
I feel like I've talked about this a bunch of times here on The Broke and the Bookish, but my very favorite bookish memory was meeting Bill Bryson at the Boston Book Festival in 2010. He is pretty much my hero. As we only had seconds to interact, I had to think fast what to say to him when I got to the head of the line. It was finally my turn to get my book signed, and I told him how much I loved listening to his narrations of his audiobooks, that I loved listening to him when I drove to and from college. He was happy enough to tell me, "That's wonderful! Let me shake your hand!" and then HE DID. I shook Bill Bryson's hand and it was marvelous. He's just as nice a man as you would think from his books. A close second to this meeting was when I met John Green, who asked about my name, and after I told him it was Armenian he said he wishes HE were Armenian so he could name his daughter that. Pretty fantastic.
Lori says:
I think it's pretty well a known fact that my favorite novel is Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind. I first encountered this novel shortly after Christmas when I was 13. On Christmas Day, my dad and I randomly decided to watch it because it was on TV. I was completely taken. Then I found out that this amazing movie was also a book. And my grandparents actually had a copy upstairs. Naturally, I took it. I devoured all 862 pages of the 1958 edition. I was completely transported by the words and the story and the emotions that they evoked in me. I remember thinking that I had discovered some lost story and that I must share it with everyone. Fortunately, my friends at that time were not really readers, so I got to hold onto that feeling for a while. Though I gradually discovered the widespread love of this novel, I will never forget the feeling I had when I first "discovered" this great story.
Daisy says:
My favourite bookish memories revolve around reading with other people. I have really happy childhood memories of my mom reading stories to me before going to sleep and when I could read myself: reading in the backyard next to her. When I go somewhere on holiday I also love to read in gorgeous place and one of my favourite holiday memories is reading with my boyfriend in a park in Barcelona, it was gorgeous!
Also: before The Hunger Games became a movie, the books weren't all that well-known in Holland. I'd been giving and loaning my own copies to friends and family for birthdays and such for a while and EVERYONE loved them! I totally laughed when one of my friends texted me a week after the movie came out, being a bit huffy about how everyone wanted to read the books after seeing the movie ;)
Bridget says:
Hands down, my best bookish memory is going to see Stephen King live in person at UMass Lowell this past December. It was an incredible experience, even though I didn't get to actually meet him or have him sign anything. He's a great speaker and is very engaging, and has this wonderfully dry sense of humor that definitely comes through in his writing but is even more apparent when listening to him. He's also a great narrator: he debuted a new short story that hasn't been published and in fact had never been heard before, and his narration was perfect. He even sort of acted it out a little bit. In short, he is absolutely captivating in person and I fully plan to follow him around the country as much as that's possible, considering he doesn't do many appearances.
Jamie says:
Meeting John Green! ERMGOSSHHH I still can't believe it happened. I waited in line for FOREVER because it was the National Book Fest and I had SO much time to come up with something to say and then at the last moment I just babbled about how I used a quote from his book for our wedding centerpiece! He was like "Hey, that's cool!" and congratulated me. Fangirl Jamie was super flaily for an hour afterwards. In my head we totally becomes bffs.
Kimberly says:
I've talked about this a lot here on the blog, so forgive me for repeating myself... But my favorite bookish memory is growing up with Harry Potter. I went to every midnight release. It was so much fun! I met loads of rather odd people, ran into teachers at the bookstore that were there, not with their kids, but for themselves! The local Barnes and Noble always put on a great party. Edible wands, black glasses, costume contests, they'd have a reading of the previous book set up in one corner. The energy was incredible, and so contagious. I'd be flying high within minutes of getting there. Around 11-11:30 they'd kick everyone out of the store and we'd have to line up outside, at midnight they'd open the doors again and we'd go in by groups. (The earlier you pre-paid for your book, the better line ticket you got). I remember the last party. I was 17 and had just graduated from high school (yes do the math and you have my age). I was there with my aunt, and randomly ended up in line with a former cast mate from a high school show, (she was all dressed up and drew quite a bit of attention). I get all excited just remembering it! Just like every other book release, it took FOREVER for midnight to come. "Is how time normally passes? Really slowly?" And then it was time! I can even remember which register I got my book from, how the book felt when they handed it to me, and how I was torn between excitement and tears. It was the final book. But it was also the FINAL book. So that's my favorite bookish memory, it's technically more than one but you all don't mind, do you? ;)
What are some of YOUR favorite memories? Did you grow up with Potter like Kimberly? Meet your favorite authors like a few of us (and did your fangirl flaily hands make an appearance like mine did?). Let us know!
