Today, I did something I haven't done since I was about six years old -- I got a library card. I've spent many Mountain Dew-fueled hours in college libraries, but I haven't borrowed a book from a public library in over ten years. Until today, I didn't realize how much public libraries have changed in ten years, and how much has remained the same.
The New York Public Library has a branch one block away from my apartment, a fact I discovered just a couple of months ago. Today, I made it a point to visit it for the first time. Two things struck me: there are so many computers! and there are so many kids! Both of these things, of course, totally make sense, especially the computers, but I'm constantly amazed that there are enough children under the age of 12 in New York to fill up a room at any given time. I can't really explain this amazement. Young children are everywhere in NYC, but for some reason, I can't allow myself to believe that they do normal things like visit the library, or go to Toys R Us, or play in a playground.
Some of you may wonder if I've read any books at all in the last ten years. The fact is, every book I've read in the last ten years I either bought at a bookstore, or borrowed from a friend. Some of you may then guess that I probably haven't read very many books in the last decade. You are right. I should absolutely read more. There several writers whose works are only familiar to me by reputation: Cormac McCarthy, Haruki Murakami, Jonathan Lethem, Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates (both of whom taught at my alma mater, and whose inclusion on this list shames me to a degree), Philip Roth, and Jonathan Franzen. And these are just fiction writers who haven't died yet.
But they're a great start.
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