Arlington County Public Library

This is the main staircase. Behind and to the left is the entrance to the youth section.

Sunday afternoon, Boyfriend and I headed over to the Arlington County Public Library. One of the disadvantages of going to a small university is that sometimes the library doesn't have all the books you need. Since Boyfriend is writing a paper on a specific gun used in the Spanish-American war, our university had no books. Luckily, Arlington has like 12 libraries, only one of which was open on Sunday.

The main Arlington County Public Library, besides being the only library open on Sunday, happens to be the library I grew up at. I don't think I've been since I moved to Falls Church when I was eight. When we pulled into the parking lot I grew nervous because I didn't recognize the outside. I have very few memories of my childhood but I have very distinct memories of this library and I was worried that everything was going to have changed in the past 12 years.


View from the top.

My worries were for naught. The second we walked through the doors I was awash with memories. The huge round staircase was just as I remembered and behind it was the youth section. They had switched the kid and young adult sides but everything else was the same. There was the long counter for check outs and the video section. Even the top floor, which I don't ever remember going to, felt familiar.


Outside there are cherry blossoms :)

I remember spending my summers filling out the reading chart to win prizes. Do you remember those? You had to read a certain number of fiction, nonfiction, chapter books, etc. I remembered how excited I was the very first time I got to check a book out of the young adult section. I know what book it was too, if only I could remember the title. I have always been a bookworm and all my memories of this library are with my Grandmother and are tinted with happiness (and for some reason yellow?).

It's nice to have somethings from your childhood remain the same. I'm also registering for a library card so, hopefully, this summer I'll have more time to read and more options!