For much of my life I took the existence of public libraries for granted: they were just there. I can now look at them more objectively and put my experiences into various contexts.
I now know something about the background and history of public libraries and about other people’s views on and experiences of them.
There was a long discussion about free public libraries on the old Conservative Conspiracy Forum. Some posters approved of them, others did not. I made several contributions in their favour and challenged some of the points made by the antis.
In addition to my personal memories, those old posts and some information I compiled at the time are the main source of material for the public library articles.
This one will bring my personal experience up to date.
Leaving the public library behind
After leaving school, I continued to be a great user of local public libraries for some years. Then came a time when I allowed my membership to lapse and even forgot that public libraries existed! Buying books instead of borrowing them became the norm for me.
Monday 27 January 2020
Monday 20 January 2020
L. M. Montgomery and Rudyard Kipling’s Cat
The Cat That Walked by Himself is one of the stories in Rudyard Kipling’s children’s classic Just So Stories (1902).
This book contains tales about various wild animals:
“...the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.”
The Cat walks through the Wet Wild Woods, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone.
L. M. Montgomery knew this story, and it meant a lot to her. Her heroine Emily Starr mentions it after her friend Dean warns her about the pressure to conform at school:
“"...Don't let them make anything of you but yourself, that's all. I don't think they will.’
"No, they won't," said Emily decidedly. "I'm like Kipling's cat--I walk by my wild lone and wave my wild tail where so it pleases me. That's why the Murrays look askance at me. They think I should only run with the pack."”
From Emily Climbs (1925)
Later in the book, Emily gets the chance to go to live in New York. She is very torn, thinking about what she might gain and what she might lose:
“Would the Wind Woman come to her in the crowded city streets? Could she be like Kipling's cat there?”
She decides to remain with her people and the old farm on her beloved Prince Edward Island, even though it means missing many opportunities to broaden her horizons and have a career.
Lucy Maud Montgomery made some very different decisions, and she came to regret them as terrible mistakes.
This book contains tales about various wild animals:
“...the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.”
The Cat walks through the Wet Wild Woods, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone.
L. M. Montgomery knew this story, and it meant a lot to her. Her heroine Emily Starr mentions it after her friend Dean warns her about the pressure to conform at school:
“"...Don't let them make anything of you but yourself, that's all. I don't think they will.’
"No, they won't," said Emily decidedly. "I'm like Kipling's cat--I walk by my wild lone and wave my wild tail where so it pleases me. That's why the Murrays look askance at me. They think I should only run with the pack."”
From Emily Climbs (1925)
Later in the book, Emily gets the chance to go to live in New York. She is very torn, thinking about what she might gain and what she might lose:
“Would the Wind Woman come to her in the crowded city streets? Could she be like Kipling's cat there?”
She decides to remain with her people and the old farm on her beloved Prince Edward Island, even though it means missing many opportunities to broaden her horizons and have a career.
Lucy Maud Montgomery made some very different decisions, and she came to regret them as terrible mistakes.
Monday 13 January 2020
Stella Gibbons and some libraries
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett are not the only writers of interest who both feasted on library books and created books for other library users to read.
Stella Gibbons, whose life and books have been featured on here, is another writer who both took out and put in. My first encounter with her work was via books that came from the public library.
Internal evidence from her books suggests to me that Stella Gibbons considered libraries to be an important part of life and that she was very familiar with the various types, not to mention the differing social classes and educational and intellectual levels of the members.
She found much good reading material on the family bookshelves when young, but probably joined a public library too.
As an adult she was a user of her local public library for many years. She may also have subscribed to a circulating library as they were still going strong in the first half of the 20th century despite the competition from the free public libraries and she features two of them in one of her books.
Stella Gibbons, whose life and books have been featured on here, is another writer who both took out and put in. My first encounter with her work was via books that came from the public library.
Internal evidence from her books suggests to me that Stella Gibbons considered libraries to be an important part of life and that she was very familiar with the various types, not to mention the differing social classes and educational and intellectual levels of the members.
She found much good reading material on the family bookshelves when young, but probably joined a public library too.
As an adult she was a user of her local public library for many years. She may also have subscribed to a circulating library as they were still going strong in the first half of the 20th century despite the competition from the free public libraries and she features two of them in one of her books.
Sunday 5 January 2020
January 6th and a few associated birthdays
Some aspects of the lives of Stella Gibbons and Stella Benson were compared in the post that marked their birthdays.
There are a few more associated birthdays to mention.
Stella Benson shares the day of her birth, January 6th, with Eric Frank Russell and John DeLorean.
January 6th is also said to be Sherlock Holmes’s birthday.
Stella Benson shares the year of her birth, 1892, with J. R. R. Tolkien, who was born a few days earlier.
Incidentally, Lucy M. Boston was also born in 1892, as was Basil Rathbone, the actor who played Holmes in major Hollywood films.
By coincidence, both Tolkien and Rathbone were born in South Africa.
Sherlock Holmes is deduced to have been born on January 6th 1854:
There are a few more associated birthdays to mention.
Stella Benson shares the day of her birth, January 6th, with Eric Frank Russell and John DeLorean.
January 6th is also said to be Sherlock Holmes’s birthday.
Stella Benson shares the year of her birth, 1892, with J. R. R. Tolkien, who was born a few days earlier.
Incidentally, Lucy M. Boston was also born in 1892, as was Basil Rathbone, the actor who played Holmes in major Hollywood films.
By coincidence, both Tolkien and Rathbone were born in South Africa.
Sherlock Holmes is deduced to have been born on January 6th 1854:
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