#537 Echoes of the library

Echoes of the library

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2024.

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There’s no denying fact that books can be best friends of humans. As he grows older, the companionship that books provide can be unmatched. They take him to various places even within the comfort of his room and let him live in multiple time frames. The characters from the books appear real as if he has started living with them and tries to see the world from their perspectives.

         For a book lover like me, the library is like a temple where I get my mental peace. Even though some libraries may be buzzing with people, I am intoxicated by their aura. I feel enveloped in an inexplicable joy and a sense of security lightens up my mind. So, wherever I went, the first thing I did was search for public libraries.

         Luckily, I’ve discovered a public library just 200 meters from where I’m living now. I’ve been visiting there every day for the last few weeks from 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm. I’ve decided to keep this time fixed so that it creates an urge for me to go there. In a foreign land, where my social interaction is limited to my husband, I can at least get to see some faces in the library or initiate some small talk with the librarian.

         I’ve not taken the membership of the library this time to motivate myself to go there to read. You might find this decision quite contrary for someone so passionate about reading, but it worked for me. Previously, my hungry self would burrow a lot of books just to create another mini library at home. I would end up paying a fee for the late return of all those books or be immersed in remorse for not being able to read them before returning.   

         Currently, I’m halfway through “The sisters of Auschwitz” and I feel so lucky to find that among a flood of English fiction books. As an admirer of non-fiction books, initially, I found it too challenging to pick up any book from the shelves of English Novels but my joy knew no bounds when my eyes fell on this book. I’ve read a couple of books on Holocaust ever since I moved to Europe, but reading something that happened at the place where you’re living now, is nothing sort of a coincidence, or it may be the way of the Universe to walk you through the history of that place. The book talks about the plight of Jews during Germany’s invasion of the Netherlands. I could relate to many cities described in the book. It was so hard to believe those horror incidences happened in the past.

During Summer for the last couple of weeks, the library has opened till 6 PM but to my surprise, when I visited the library after five days today, I found it to be open till 11 pm. Unlike other days, there was no announcement at 5:30 PM as a reminder to leave the library by 6 PM. I felt as if the duration of the opening hours of the library was extended for me to compensate for what I had missed in the last 5 days. In the last few, when I stayed mostly indoors, my mind was worried about the whereabouts of the inhabitants of “The High Nest”. Such is the power of narration; it makes you part of that description.

    I hope to complete my reading goals and diversify my reading list by incorporating some fiction into it. That’s what this library has taught me, to choose something that I hesitated to pick early, to come out of my comfort zone, and to experience the bliss of trying something new. English books constitute 1% of the entire library and reading my favorite genres in Dutch is a far-fetched dream for me now.

                 

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Swati Sarangi

28.08.2024

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