Unit 2 Library

Chosen Book: Archigram. Cook, Peter, 1936- ed.; Archigram (Group), 1972. Available at King & King Architecture Library, Slocum Hall.

My relationship with the library has existed for nearly two decades now. I recall entering the glass doors of the middle school reading center on the second floor of my school at age 8, and immediately encountering a slightly terrifying mural of a green dragon plastered across the walls and ceiling. When I first began walking through that space, I frequently made a beeline to the shelf where I knew the Rainbow Magic series was located, and proceeded to read four of the books within the hour I was there. When I turned 9, I thought myself too mature for these childish fairy stories, instead opting to delve into Enid Blyton's all-girl boarding school series 'Mallory Towers', where I would imagine myself getting into various kinds of mischief in a cold, stone castle located in the English countryside. I soon transitioned to reading Harry Potter, then Michael Morpurgo, and eventually turned 11---which meant I could enter the big library that the high schoolers all used. It was here that I began exploring pieces of literature that I arguably should not have been reading at such a young age. 13-year old me found Vladimir Nabokov's 'Lolita' in the classics section and decided it would be appropriate to read at the dining table. 20-year old me is still aghast at this occurrence. But despite such events, I believe that my fondness for the library led directly to my love of writing and the arts. It encouraged me to broaden my perspectives and learn about aspects of the world I was too naive to know existed in the first place, and helped cement (or at least build the foundation for) many of my social and political views. However, since that age, technology has taken over pretty much all of the media I consume. I rarely buy physical copies of books anymore, nor do I loan them out from the library unless it's absolutely necessary and the information I require cannot be found anywhere else. Instead, I try to find PDFs online, or log into my mother's kindle to download newer releases I have my eye on. But even so, I find myself only reading avidly during long flights and bus rides---not staying up until dawn because I simply cannot put this book down, nor begging the librarian to let me stay after school hours to finish the novel I was enjoying. The brick-and-mortar library exists more as a time-capsule now; a reminder of the adoration and passion I once had for reading that, at some point, ceased to exist along with the emergence of a technology-heavy education.