Stephen Taylor: Libraries continue to be treasured community resources

About 10 years ago I received a gift that was great at the time but now is something I never use, and to be honest I do not even know where it is at.

That gift was a Kindle. For those not familiar with Kindles, they are tablets used to download books to read. This was my introduction into the world of e-books.

The Kindle was quite useful at the time I received it since we lived in a much smaller town with limited library resources. It was a convenience and saved me a trip to the library. I remember hearing the predictions at the time that libraries would be outdated since there was no need for a person to make that special trip to just check out a book. As we can see today that prediction did not come true. Libraries are still thriving and are here to stay.

I remember in elementary school there was a school library and twice a month we had a bookmobile parked outside. Bookmobiles were trailers that you could walk inside and were filled with shelves of books. If a book was unavailable at the school library, possibly you could find it in the bookmobile.

Teachers encouraged students to read books and occasionally time was set aside to read your favorite book during the school day. For me when I headed to high school, reading dropped in its importance because there were many other things and activities to take up your time. I do not remember picking up a book outside of a classroom book during college time and since I finished my last two years of college in an extended degree program through Upper Iowa my reading for enjoyment was non-existent.

Even after finishing college I did not read much. My reading probably extended to magazines. When I began taking the courses required after my entry into the ministry it reminded me of my college days. Course study books made up the entirety of my reading. No reading for my enjoyment.

I cannot say when reading became interesting again. Maybe it was after I retired and moved to Pleasant Hill. For a smaller town, Pleasant Hill has a wonderful library. The latest books are available, or they can be ordered. Reading for enjoyment allowed me to follow several authors. One year I challenged myself to read a book a week. The challenge was met with more than 60 books read.

There are many programs available at the Pleasant Hill Library. I have belonged to a book club that meets once a month. The biggest benefit of belonging to the club is that it pushes me to read other authors and books that I would not check out on my own. These book clubs meet on Monday evening and Tuesday mornings. Check out the book clubs, challenge yourself, it is well worth the time.

Stephen Taylor
Stephen Taylor

This past month as I arrived for the Tuesday book club meeting it was almost impossible to find a parking spot. Why? As I found out, during the summer there are many programs targeting the younger readers and this day they had a guest bring their reptiles to the library. What a great way to get the young ones into the library, and hopefully get them interested in a life-long hobby, reading.

Recently, I heard an interesting fact. During the last year only 27% of the people in this country had read (or listened) to a book. That is sad. They do not know what they are missing. Take advantage of your libraries, they are there for you.

Stephen Taylor is a Pleasant Hill resident and retired minister.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Taylor: Libraries continue to be treasured community resources