"Designed by Architect Trelle Morrow, the Prince George Public Library had a popular 'reading pit' inset into the basement that was enjoyed by children."

I grew up surrounded by shelves full of books. My father had his own extensive library for his work, my mother had her collection of books and the kids had a bookshelf in our basement that was dominated by our set of World Book Encyclopedias. When you add in the large library at school and the massive public library downtown, I spent a significant part of my early life either inside a library or inside the stories I had borrowed.

In my younger years, the weekly visit to the public library was an exciting day. We did not own a television, so our entertainment came only from books and with low income, that we relied on free library books. If I finished everything I had borrowed and it was not yet library day, I had to reread what I had on hand or imagine new storylines to keep myself occupied.

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The basement of our public library housed the juvenile collection and once you had picked out a book you would head into what I referred to as the "Reading Temple". A circular hallway would take you into a small, rounded amphitheatre cut into the basement floor. It was the 1970's so each tier was covered in thick shag carpet that was both comfy to sit on and absorbed the whispers from the other kids. In my memory it was much larger than the online photo, but that picture brought back powerful memories of those younger years, including the smell of the books. It's interesting to me that the books in a library have a very different scent from the new books in a bookstore. It's as if being read infuses the pages with faint memories of the readers who came before you. Some avoid libraries for that very reason but for me it was a part of the experience. I still prefer to buy older books from resellers online or to browse the ones my mom likes to collect.

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