“... I taught myself how to write by reading as many books as I could carry home from the library.“
Many people do indeed learn to write by extensive reading, although obviously not all voracious readers go on to become published writers. Who knows what wonderful works might never have existed if their authors had not had access to large numbers of good-quality library books as children!
Isaac Asimov is another writer to acknowledge his debt:
"I received the fundamentals of my education in school, but that was not enough. My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library."
From his memoir I, Asimov
I like to see people giving credit where it is due!
These quotations have given me the idea of creating a series of articles about public libraries, covering both my personal experiences and those of some of the writers mentioned on here. There will also be some background and general material.
This exercise will help to pay off the huge debt that I owe to the library books that educated, inspired and entertained me as a child – and still do.
I hope that this dragon doesn't drop his book in the bath!
