Something that is happening in the present time is my appointment to the Englewood Library Board. I am looking forward to being a part of this Board, hoping it will give me a chance to be an active part of this community. My love of reading, which was early on in life, makes this opportunity the perfect fit for me. If I can play a small part in increasing the visibility of the Library in my community, and in turn spark a passion for reading, then I think it will be a worthy use of my time.

I am not sure what sparked my love for all things literary, but I can share with you my earliest memories. I remember waiting in bed for my Daddy to come and read to me. The story I remember the most was "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." The reason I liked this book over any other had to do with the fat that I could visualize her best. I, like Goldilocks, was blond and sleeping in a nice comfy bed. I remember knowing the book so well that I would read it back to my Daddy. It never mattered that I would hold the book upside down when it was my turn to read, because I had the story memorized.

My early introduction to the Fairy Tales of old resonates with my childhood on Lake Charlotte. Looking across the Bay from my family's home there was lake and forest just west of us. There were no homes to see in that distant part of the Bay. An active imagination could see the forest of fairytales through the trees. I could see Red Ridinghood meeting the Wolf in those very woods across from our home. It could be me, for all that it mattered, going to my Grandmother's house, when my Grandmother's house was so very near to that forest.

The lake in it's nature is reflective; it makes one reflective too of the possibility of anything one could dream. And the forest held the reality unseen. I lived in a childhood of possibility. I haven't forgotten that. I can go as far as my imagination is willing to take me. The trees with their words, and the lake with it's wordless song of waves and ripples against the shore. Together they are a symphony of tales to tell.

So, can a Library today be the childhood we've forgotten, or lost? Shall we let our children grow-up with a silent speaking imagination? I hope not! I dare not let it! If you haven't been lost to wonder I hope this will serve as a reminder to get a little lost now.