Julien's First Membership Card

Julien received his first membership card today. Plus a secret PIN to boot!

In the Bookstart free pack, I had read that Julien can sign up to be a library member, so I decided to have a productive afternoon and pushed him to the library.

The library was really small, consisting of 3 small rooms only. In fact, it was sharing the same entrance as a church and other offices. Inside, one room catered to fiction, another non-fiction plus one more for children. The book selection was small, but I was impressed.

Impressed that there is enough conviction in the importance of reading to make room for a library, no matter how small the rooms. No doubt, the library is constantly refreshing its stock, so it doesn't really matter that it has limited space. Impressed that there is a strong enough conviction to serve the people by having little libraries in every little neighborhood, given that the Central Library is not too far away.

I, for one, felt the positive impact, since I am not very mobile these days, not having my own set of wheels. So, having a little library within walking distance really helps. And it's a great reason to push baby out and give myself some exercise.

In the end, it is the adults who are thrilled and impressed that Julien has a library card; Jules was totally nonplussed, of course :) We opened a bottle of wine to mark and celebrate this occasion. I think my mum-in-law was especially thrilled by it, probably enthused by her own memories of bringing Daddy Low and his sister to the library in their childhood days. With his library card, Jules can borrow both books and audio tapes and the PIN allows him to reserve books online or extend his loans. Now, how's that for equal membership rights regardless of age?!