My love of the library

This week, I am celebrating the re-opening of my town’s library. I have missed the library more than anything else since the start of lockdown.

Libraries are such special spaces for me. When I was 16, I had a great Saturday job which involved very little work and provided lots of free stuff. I worked in my local library and could borrow as many books (and, as it was the 1990s, tapes, CDs and videos!) as I liked. It was a very relaxing place to work as it was so quiet – not yet the realm of singing sessions and toddler play areas like there are nowadays…

Many of my friends worked in noisier, busier places, under much worse conditions and for less reward. I was very lucky to have such a great introduction to work-life (compared to the scarring of the stint I did in a men’s clothes shop during the holidays once – urgh, the utter BOREDOM!).

Then, at university, I often had a free Thursday afternoon, so would go to the depths of the Clinical Sciences library and immerse myself in books on the brain. I loved it!

Every time I go to the library, I feel calm and reassured by the relative peace and the quiet way people move around the space. It got me thinking about how we can inhabit a library-like space in our minds, browsing the accumulated wisdom on the shelves of life.
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When we ‘visit’ the library in our minds, we can listen to the silence and be aware of the stillness. Quietness in an atmosphere means there is the presence of quiet minds; quiet minds are not only relaxed, they can concentrate easily and create more freely. #loveyourlibrary