Holding my books is pure joy

People say books are disappearing, young people only want digital anything. I disagree.

Working for the library since August of this year, I have seen the truth. The truth is people read books, actual books, in abundance. Adults come in to return four books and check out six more books.

Small children come to the counter with heaps of books! Their mothers and fathers giving them a hand so the books don't fall all over the floor. These children are excited to show us what they found. And then they come back week after week.

I, myself, am a bibliophile, a lover of books. All of my life books have been my constant companion. I would read in the car to my grandma's or read when we were camping at the river. I would also weather the north wind hitting my bedroom window as I read underneath the blankets. I loved reading.

I have books that I've collected from when I was a kindergartner all the way up to today. This means I have a *lot of books.* But without my books with me, I do not feel like I am home. Each time I have moved my books have come along, the hard way, by me moving box after box. I know many of you feel the same, that they would never have been left behind.

When I hold my paperback copy of Jaws, I am once again young. Holding my books in my hands is pure joy and pure comfort.

I am Tammy Valentine, I love books.