Finally, my daughter and I are beginning to develop some comfortable routines in our new hometown. One of them is spending a couple hours every other Saturday at the public library.

I began taking my daughter to the library for weekend outings when she first started learning to read. We would sit for an hour or so at the little tables in the children’s section and I would encourage her as she struggled through each word. We always left with four or five books for her and at least one for me. As my commuting time to work increased, I also started picking up books on tape. 

I’ve loved libraries since my Mom used to drop me off on Saturdays to study. Over time, my daughter grew to love them as well as bookstores. When she was 9-years-old, I asked her one day how she would spend a perfect afternoon. She told me she would have some tea and cake and read a book. 

Our new neighborhood library is a regional branch, so it’s spacious and has all sorts of nooks and crannies suitable for browsing through books. On a recent visit, my daughter picked up a brochure with information about a special space for teenagers, where only they can go to find popular teen fiction, participate in classes or just hang out. I dropped her off there over the weekend. 

We’ll continue our library outings, I’m sure, but now that she’s found a special place for teenage book lovers, she’ll be starting new routines of her own.

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