I knew it was coming, the destruction of the first building I understood to be a library. The new shiny library sits several hundred feet to the south from the abandoned building. We all knew the old libary's days were numbered.
Today, the number was called...and answered.
I arrived home today around 5:30pm. The carnage was hard to miss. Yes, the building was old and outdated and insufficient for the needs of the neighborhood, but as I stared over the temporary chain link fence, I looked upon the space and a sense of melancholy washed over me. I'm going to miss that place.
For all of us who grew up in our little hometown and visited the space dedicated to the preservation of both the written word and printed photo, we won't soon forget the inadequate reference section, the children's area with the benches and wooden toys (handled by untold kids with possible contagious illnesses...), and the back portion of the building where fiction, non-fiction, oversized, and newspapers were found. And, of course, no one can forget the 5¢ a copy copy machine that worked sporadically.
The longer I remain in my hometown, the more I'll see other examples of "progress" when new will replace old. From this day on, however, anyone moving into our town will enjoy the state-of-the-art new library, but they'll never know the old library, the one the old-timers will talk about and think about and just maybe, wish it was still around...
This is just sad. I remember this library so fondly. Sometimes new is not better.
ReplyDeleteIt's still weird to look across the street from the gas station and see that big empty space where the building used to be. I guess it's progress, but still sad.
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