Reading - Part I

When you get homesick for Rupert, check out this slideshow under "Rupert slide show" and be sure to stop at the DeMary library web site located here.

Also check out this link for city data about Rupert. Fascinating!

I wanted to find a picture of the public library in Rupert. I didn't ever find a picture, but I did find those fascinating websites instead. I love Google and I love the Internet!

Anyway, I wanted to give a shout out to the DeMary library in Rupert, Idaho. Did you know this interesting fact?

The library just celebrated it's 50th anniversary. One of Mr. A.C. DeMary's goals for Rupert was to have a building just for the library. He made this goal a reality in 1958 by building and presenting this library to the city. This was done shortly before his death. Photos of this ceremony are available to view at the library.

Thank YOU Mr. A.C. DeMary! This is the place where I gained a love for reading. This tiny, little library was magic to me back in the day. On Wednesdays, we attended Primary (which was an after-school activity and lesson group meeting for LDS children.) We walked from Lincoln elementary school the three blocks to the church where we had primary from 3:30-5:00 pm. Most weeks my friend Carla M. and I walked over to the DeMary library and picked up some books on our way to Primary, smartly outfitted in our cotton dresses, bobby socks and oxford shoes. If I were extra lucky, I would stop by Nelson's grocery store and buy a big, red, juicy apple for 25 cents. We had our very own library cards and we enjoyed reading many of the same books. I still remember some of the titles and series I loved: All the Little House on the Prairie books (I'll still watch the TV show if I come across it while channel hopping), Nancy Drew girl detective series, Heidi, Where the Red Fern Grows (cried my little eyes out over that one), along with Old Yeller and the magical A Wrinkle in Time - which was my first exposure to Science Fiction. There were other classics like A Witch of Blackbird Pond and the Bronze Bow.
My friend's mother was the librarian at the elementary school in Heyburn and she always gave Carla good suggestions on books to read which she passed on to me. I loved to read those child adventure books and I became hooked on the notion that a book had the power to transport me out of Rupert, Idaho to some far-flung place. I loved to let my imagination wander and I generally became engrossed in the story to the point where I couldn't put the book down until I had finished reading it.
I loved receiving books as gifts and I wish I would have kept more of my childhood books. I learned at an early age that reading was powerful stuff.

Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child. ~ Anonymous ~

A library is a hospital for the mind. ~ Anonymous ~

People die, but books never die. ~ Anonymous ~

If you can read this, thank a teacher. ~ Anonymous Teacher ~