Brighten your day with a book

The Friends of the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library recently held a used book sale, helping hundreds of titles find loving homes with new readers. Since I purchased a couple of bags worth myself, I had a pleasant Friday evening rearranging my bookshelves at home to make room for the new additions. While I find the vast majority of my reading material at the library, there's no shortage of books in our house. Some I own because I love them and will reread them from time to time. Others I've been meaning to read for years, but just haven't gotten to yet. Still others serve as warm reminders of another time. When I was little I had the occasional sleepover with my grandparents. My grandpa was a quiet man, and a bit gruff, but he would always offer to read me a bedtime story. Without fail, I would select a Little Golden Books version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and a Pink Panther picture book left from my father's childhood. Grandpa would grumble over my selections, but he would always invite me into his lap and read my favorites again. Both of those books now sit alongside Bear, Pigeon, Llama Llama, Elephant and Piggie and other favorites from my daughter's childhood. As a parent who's reread books to the point of memorization, I can better understand Grandpa's grumbles and appreciate that he always let me choose my own stories. Two of my shelves are full of decrepit Nancy Drew titles. I remember my Dad coming home from a garage sale with a box of books. The covers were brown and falling apart. I was skeptical, but Dad said I'd love them. He was right. For years I read every Nancy Drew title I could get my hands on. L.M. Montgomery claims another row of shelf space. My Aunt Penny, a school librarian, gifted me with an Anne of Green Gables box set in elementary school. I was again skeptical, and in love with Nancy Drew and The Babysitter's Club, so those languished forgotten for a couple of years. But when the right book finds the right reader at the right time, it's magical. I adored Anne and searched high and low for every book ever written by L.M. Montgomery. I still have my childhood tendency to think I don't like historical fiction and find myself swept away by the stories of the past that sneak through my defenses. I have no idea what the Pink Panther was doing in his story. I couldn't give you more of a description of any Nancy Drew title than Nancy and her friends solved a crime and I've forgotten most of the titles of the books by L.M. Montgomery. However, the memory of the joy those books brought me will never fade. At the library, we're always ready to help you find the next book to bring you joy. Stop in and let us help you experience that magical connection of book, reader and moment in time. Clevidence is director of the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library.