FROM THE EDITOR Summertime Reading

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Broomfield Public Library right after school ended in the spring to sign up for the summer reading program. The original Broomfield Library was located where the Broomfield Veterans Museum now resides at #12 Garden Center.

According to the Broomfield.org website, in 1961 Bal Swan and the Turnpike Land Company donated land at #12 Garden Center for the first permanent library building. Upon request of Bal Swan, the library was named Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library and General and Mrs. Eisenhower were honored guests at the library dedication July 7, 1963.

I was first a patron a few years after that, in the mid to late 1970s. My mom would load my brothers, sister, and me up in the station wagon and we would drive over to the library to register. I can remember the smiling friendly lady, Mary Jane Bailey, Broomfield’s first library director, helping us sign up. There were colorful posters all around and a form that seemed very official to a seven- or eight-year-old. We would go home, each with our forms to track our reading and our own cloth bag filled with books. It was so exciting!

I was an avid reader and would voraciously dive in. You see, the more books you read, the more prizes you could accumulate. But for me it was more about having the longest list of books read possible by the end of summer. That old library held many good memories for me. It was a place of discovery for a growing mind and I remember combing the wooden drawers of the old card catalog, just reading cards until I found something that piqued my interest. Then off to the stacks to find the book! Do kids today even need to learn the Dewey Decimal System? The Internet has “replaced” many beautiful things.

I can also remember regular study dates at the library when I was first dating my now husband Pat, where there was probably more hand holding and shy looks across the table then studying going on.

I just moved my home office to a different room in the house, which caused a small packing and unpacking of “stuff.” Amongst the items, I rediscovered several books that I have accumulated in recent years, and not read yet, but pushed into one drawer or another. I now have a fresh stack of books beckoning me from a clean new shelf. And summertime is the perfect time to tackle some reading.

The Broomfield Summer Reading Program still exists today and kicks off June 1 with programs and prizes for readers of all ages - infants to adults! You can learn more at https://www.broomfield.org/2644/Summer-Library-Adventures and register in person at the Broomfield Library at 1 DesCombes Drive.

Until next month,

Tina Eichner, Editor