Summer reading program

I signed up for the summer reading program today. Yup, you heard me. My library runs a program--for adults--called Club Read! Nifty, huh? It's got prizes and everything. Last year I won a $10 gift certificate. (You can tell me I'm a dork or a nerd, but trust me, I've already heard it.)

Signing up for the summer reading program meant saying goodbye to school and hello to a long, carefree summer vacation. My father was dedicated to getting his daughters registered for the program at our local library, which was 15 miles away. We piled out of the hot family van and into the air-conditioned comfort of the library. My sisters and I clattered up the marble steps to the children's area on the second floor and scattered to our chosen destinations. I veered off to the left drawn to the Nancy Drew books like a magnet to the North Pole.

My peach-colored youth library card was better than a winning lottery ticket. In between visits, my mother insisted on keeping my sisters' cards so they wouldn't lose them. I was so reluctant to part with my card that she relented and let me keep it. For some people, getting their driver's license is their first big "coming of age" moment. For me, it was getting the buttercup-colored adult library card at age 12. :)