For those living in the Richmond area, the George Memorial Library is the most recognizable landmark around. The curved roof, visible for miles, has stood watch over the community for over 25 years, and thousands visit the George every week.
Starting Sunday, the GML will be closed through Sept. 29 for modernization and renovations, and I’ll truly miss visiting this grand lady.
Libraries have come a long way since the days when the only way to have new books to read was to wait for the bookmobile to come down the road.
Where I grew up, the library was an old, three-story building, and formidable granite stairs led to a front door that required brute strength to open.
I remember how our whispered voices echoed throughout the rotunda. Mostly I remember the special smell that accompanies older libraries – that of musty books and printers’ ink.
People who came to the library with a mission hung out at the card catalog tables where cabinets with skinny drawers held the road map to information.
If you wanted to know about the life of Benjamin Franklin, you went to the drawer, found the section on Franklin, Ben and then wrote down a string of numbers so you could walk up and down the library aisles, hoping the book would be there.
Then it was back to those hard tables and chairs so we could write down the information, always making sure to copy down all the numbers on the card so we could document our work.
Even though I visited the library numerous times for book reports, for me, libraries were fun places. There was always the relaxing adventure of browsing through the aisles all by myself and picking out three or four novels that looked promising.
When it was time to go, I’d hand my books over to a stern librarian who’d take my paper card with the metal plate and slide it into a machine. From there, a card was punched with the due date and slipped into an envelope on the back cover of the book.
A New Look
Libraries today are a far cry from those days. Instead of dark and foreboding institutions, new libraries are open and airy, and the George found a balance between the old and the new.
Children are encouraged to play with blocks, puzzles and toys, and adults catch up on the latest magazines and newspapers in bright, cozy reading areas.
There’s still the mandatory quiet in the library, but that’s balanced with the sounds of children laughing during Story Time and patrons tapping away on computers.
In some ways, the George was like going home to our grandparents’ home. Sure the couches were a little worn, but we loved snuggling up there with a book, just like we did at our grandparents’ home.
The elevators are a little slow at the George and the granite in the restrooms is showing its age. I’ll miss that old smell of the musty books, but with the GML upgrade, we’ll be able to sit around tables, sip coffee and browse the Internet through the library’s Wi-Fi system.
Instead of a stern librarian giving us the “stink eye” if we misplaced our library card, we’ll have a modernized system where we can download e-books and MP3 files while our coffee cools.
The George will continue to look out over Fort Bend County, but she’ll now do so with the latest and greatest libraries have to offer.
She deserves some sprucing up. Take care, ma’am, until we see you in September.
This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.