My buddy Mark Evanier, on his blog, related this story about his youthful experiences in the public library...and it is very much like my own.
Like Mark, I was an avid reader at a young age and quickly worked my way through virtually everything of interest in the children's section of my local library (the Port Richmond branch on Staten Island, NY). Like Mark, I read all the Freddy the Pig books...unlike Mark, I really enjoyed them. I also went through Doctor Dolittle. And anything they had in science fiction for kids.
Trouble is, there wasn't a lot of that last genre. Even the "young adult" novels of Robert Heinlein and the Lucky Star series by Isaac Asimov were aimed at sixth-to-eighth-graders...and I was ready for them in fourth grade. I was always three-to-four grade levels ahead in reading...and I read pretty quickly, too. So, by the time I was ten or so, my mother prevailed upon the librarian to upgrade me to the adult section. In fact, the children's librarian actually approached Mom about it first, as I recall, because she knew I had exhausted the material under her care.
Of course, that opened the door to more than just SF. I also had (and still have) an interest in paleontology (like most kids, it started with dinosaurs) and I soon found the section for that in the adult room as well.
Anyone else have a library story to tell?
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