John Rush

I can still see my friend and neighbor calling to me as he is riding his bike down the street towards our houses.  Charlie is one year older than I am and so he was able to move to the “young adult” part of our local public library before I could.  As he pulls up in front of my house the bike is abandoned and falls to the ground as he shows me the books on World War II that he was able to check out.  I can’t tell you why this memory is still fresh in my mind over 50 years later.  Was I happy for him?  Was I envious? It might well have been as I have absolutely no memory of my first day using that part of the library the next year.

This branch of the public library was down the street from where I grew up.  It would be a part of my life from childhood through high school graduation. My interest in history was developed not only by the teachers I had but also finding and reading and enjoying books in the library that fostered that interest. The works of C. B. Colby come to my mind as the first to spark that interest.  The original Landmark series of books are still re-read at times with enjoyment and remain treasured by many people.

At the same time as this, my grandfather (who was the one to read to my siblings and me: Uncle Wiggly tales) introduced me to a set of books that led to an interest that I still have so many years later.  The author was F. W. Dixon (who never existed, he is a pseudonym used by various ghost writers over many years) and the series was the Hardy Boys. For many years, trips to the Muir’s Department store would result in purchasing the latest volume to be released, opening the book and being transported to Bayport and joining in the adventures of Frank and Joe Hardy and their friends and family.  Formulaic to be sure, reflective of the times certainly (for good and/or bad). But a joy to think of being a part of this fictional world.

And then I found other series (none of which were available in the library as these series were not considered to be “good” literature) that led to other worlds to be part of: Chip Hilton for sports, Rick Brandt for science, and Ken Holt as another mystery series.  These would lead to reading Sherlock Holmes and then the “golden age” of mystery writers: Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Dorothy Sayers, as well as a host of others.

A number of years ago I shared the 2 “lists of books to read before college” which I have kept since my high school days with an Emmaus student. He asked me what it was that made me enjoy reading so much and my answer was that reading can transport one to any time or place in the real world as well as any imaginary world that an author can dream up.

When I started high school I followed in the footsteps of my older siblings and started working at that branch of the public library down the street.  Access to an “unlimited” amount of books, hearing people talk about their favorite books and authors, and sampling as many of these books as possible contributed to the love of reading as well as a life-long career as a librarian.

So last summer when shifting books and magazines in the Emmaus library we moved the magazine American Heritage and seeing the hard-bound volumes which arrived six times a year with its “history for the non-professional,” my mind was flooded with memories of another time and place. Something the printed book can do unlike any other media.