Saturday, March 12, 2011

Ode To Hayward Public Library, Hayward, CA

by Lupe Fernandez

My father used to drive me and my older brother to the library. He would sit in this 1960 white Chevolet Impala, drinking Hamns and reading his crime tabloid. My brother and I would go into the library and head for the children's section with all kinds of cool books. Some titles I remember. Some I can't.

My favorites were The Lost Uranium Mine* by Bamman Whithead and a picture book about the Mariner space probe missions to Venus and Mars. I've never been able to locate that book again. My brother would read the Matthew Looney series. There was a shelf devoted to ghost and mystery stores, like The Thing at the Foot of the Bed* by Maria Leach.

My brother often found an illustration book on the history of flight. I can't remember the title. We sat a reading table. I recall looking over my brother's shoulder - "Don't crowd me," he would push me - and following the progress from 18-19th century balloons, elegant single-engine planes, bi-planes, WWI planes, jet fighters to Apollo spacecraft.

Favorite books in hand, my brother and I check them out with are library cards, orange paper inside a plastic sleeve. The librarian behind a counter would take our library cards, the white index cards from inside the book cover and pass them into a mysterious humming, clicking machine. The cards went into one slot and out another.

We went outside, and if we didn't see the white Impala parked at the curb, we waited by the circular water fountain. The lights in the fountain illuminated the water shooting of the small pipes in the concrete basin. I searched for quarters among the change on the fountain bottom, wondering if I would get into trouble for snatching the money. Or we run around the trees on the library grounds to pass the time. All the time inhaling the intoxicating smell of hot dogs from the Doggy Diner across the street. 

We knew our father was at the local magazine store to get another police crime tabloid and would return shortly. He kept us on a short leash.

I always checked out a book, but my brother didn't. My father would yell at my brother for not checking out a book. I felt sorry for my brother. It wasn't that he didn't like reading; my father unfairly compared my voracious reading habits with him.

Unwritten Family Rule: Children Cannot Leave Library Without Book

However, my mother had her own judgment.
"What did you get?" she asked me.
I showed her my favorite picture book about the Mariner 2 space probe to Venus. She was displeased. "Why do you always get the same book?" I supposed she wanted me to expand my literary tastes.

Children s Section
Doggy Diner is gone, but trees still shadow the library grounds. Books line the shelves. Children still go. Too bad about the fountain. I miss snap of catalog cards, the sound of index drawers slamming shut.
 
I'll know I've hit the big time in children's literature when I get to speak at the Hayward Public Library.

*I'll be reviewing of these books in a future post.

15 comments:

  1. Thank you. You brought back the libraries of my childhood. I remember those index cards fondly. All through my life, we moved a lot. We always joined the library. As an adult, the first thing I did on a theatre job was mail myself a letter so I could take it to the library as proof of my address. My favorite: In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, they let you have a guest membership. We were there because Barry was filming in Any Which Way You Can for two weeks. My one year old son and I spent a lot of time there and they had the OZ books, -fourteen of them

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can remember my childhood library as well (in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia), and I've been searching for this book about princesses and orange blossoms (that I read as a child) for some time. Too bad I don't remember the title!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's a beautiful library. Looking at the pictures I could imagine myself there trying to find something fun to read.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Sue.
    I recall the renovation of the Los Angeles Central Library. I was inspired by the sculpture gallery.
    Sincerely,
    Card Carrying Member

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lori - Dhahran Saudi Arabia? Holy Sandcastle, Batman! Sigh, you live such an exciting life.

    Michael - I'm glad the city hasn't cut down the trees around the library.

    Sincerely,
    Book Bound

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is a charming ode to a library, Lupe. I love that you always brought home the same book -- and that you remembered the mysterious humming and clicking machine.

    It brings back fond childhood library memories for me too. When I was a kid, I used to walk with my friends to Hampton Park Library in Ottawa, Canada on Saturdays. We'd stop at the local shopping center on the way for icecream sandwiches and to see the latest arrivals at the toy store. Once, an overdue notice came in the mail. I owed the library $7 and I was really annoyed when my parents made me pay the fine out of my allowance. Then we moved to the Bahamas, where the library is a round building that used to be a prison... Maybe I should write my own post about this instead of monopolizing your comment section.

    Wow, Lori, how fascinating to learn you lived in Saudi Arabia as a child.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Megan,
    The Bahamas? Holy Limbo Dance, Batman!
    If I lived in the Caribbean, I'd be too busy hanging out at the beach to go to the library.
    Sincerely,
    Book Beach Bum

    ReplyDelete
  8. I admit, I hung out on the beach a lot more than I went to the library.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I loved the library in Fairfax, CA as a kid and enjoyed taking lots of kids to the libraries in Alameda as a (sort of) grown up. Of course I'll never really grow up since I still read lots of kids' books. They keep me young inside.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Janet,
    Chocolate chip cookies and Rocky Road ice cream keep me young.
    Sincerely,
    Dough Boy

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nostalgic and lovely! I agree--no child or adult should ever be without a book...digital or otherwise. Long live libraries.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for the compliment.
    Digital? Cough, cough, choke, gasp...
    Sincerely,
    Book Bound

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Week's Branch was my spot. My mom would drop me off at 10:00 on Saturday morning's. I would read all the Frank Baum Wizard of Oz series, Danny Dunn and Encyclopedia Brown. Later I would sneak to the adult section (the sci-fi was better there) and only got kicked out once. Around 12:30 I would call her and she would pick me up at 1:00. I too had the orange library card, and remember the magical check out machines. Great times and fond memories.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I wished the library had an ice cream counter.
    Sincerely,
    One Scoop

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yep, as a child I used to go to the library and read curious George. 40 years later I run BestRate locksmith here in Hayward not to far from the library at 23920 2nd St. 510-751-3889

    ReplyDelete

We love hearing from you.