Support Your Local Library..

I've always been "artsy", even when I was a kid but I never took it seriously. I'd always been under the impression that arts & crafts were hobbies and not a sensible way to support a family. So when I grew up I got a real job and made crafts in my spare time, when there was any. This mostly meant making Christmas decorations with the kids, maybe some handmade gifts and of course, school art projects. Over the years I've dabbled in cross stitch, beads and sequins, papier mache, decoupage, tole painting, plaster figurine painting and even went through a body art phase with the whole tattoo rig. I learned about most of these genres by purchasing a craft kit at Michael's, before that it was Lee Wards or Moskatels. I've been around a while. But my art, and actually my whole life, changed when I re-discovered the wonder that is my local Public Library.

I am a life long artist and also an avid reader of non-fiction. I thrive on learning and knowing new things. I was an Internet enthusiast since the early days of dial up when it was mostly 'bulletin boards'. Anybody remember those? If so, you must be old like me. The webs have come a long way since then, but even at the time I was ecstatic over the prospect of instant information. I still love the Internet and spend way too much time exploring it, but in my opinion, nothing beats a good book.

Back in '98, my husband and I bought our first house. The kids were in a new school and right down the street was the public library. My husband and kids are avid readers too and we were all excited to have a library so close, but our first visit left us a little disappointed. The branch was tiny compared to the giant library in our community's downtown area. What to do? Our local branch was too small, but the big library was too inconvenient. I mentioned this to the librarian and what she told me rocked my world. She said that it was easy to get any book in the system delivered right to my neighborhood branch free of charge. I could go online and request any book, CD or video in the county library's vast holdings and when it arrived they would notify me to come pick it up.

This literally changed my life. Thanks to the public library system, I have acquired knowledge and skills that have made it possible for me to confidently plan family trips to the Grand Canyon, Washington, D.C., London, and Paris. I've learned about organic gardening, homesteading and raising backyard chickens. I've checked out books to learn new computer programs, how to work from home and how to write a resume'. By far, the majority of the books I check out are books on art & crafts. I have learned dozens of new crafting skills. Sewing, resin casting, altered art, wire jewelry, soldering, bead stringing and much much more.

And it's all thanks to my local library.