It pays to lose a library card. I don’t get into the city often, especially on a weeknight. But receiving the final notice that I had until Friday to collect my requested item (The Complete Shakespeare Sonnets) before it was sent back prompted me to change plans. I owned the book on cassette tape. It died. I cried. And finding a copy to buy was a bit hard – I tried (but I digress).

I grabbed my CD case off the holds shelf, went to the checkout stand – and didn’t have my card. Unlike my county card, I didn’t have the 13 digits memorized, so a replacement card was needed.

I loved it when the librarian told me the new cards came with a key chain version (I promptly put mine on my ‘card collection ring’ once the traditional size card was signed!). There were six designs to choose from and I was drawn to “Imagination,” although I confess, the decision was a challenge.

I was four years old again, a library card in hand, mind spinning with access to materials to nourish the mind, soul and imagination – oh the JOY!

Three quick quotes about the joys of reading:

Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.  ~William Hazlitt

The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television.  ~Andrew Ross

Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience:  this is the ideal life.  ~Mark Twain

Best one to enjoy-

To quote LeVar Burton, “A book lets you zoom through time and space.”

How about you, dear reader – any particular small items that bring you joy?

*This was first published 6.7.13 as “Friday Fast One: Imagination Edition”