My Little Piece of Paradise...

It is no secret that I am a nerd, so the following statement will come as no surprise to those who know me. I LOVE the library. I love books. I love to read. I have recently discovered that the library here at EKU has an amazing plethora of literature just sitting there collecting dust, waiting to be read. Sadly, this discovery was not made until my last semester here. Had I known about it sooner, I would have spent the entirety of my four years at EKU in this little piece of paradise.

I made my discovery on a lonely Saturday afternoon. All of my friends had gone home for the weekend. The weather had just started to turn warm and I was itching to go to the park. But what was I going to do there? Homework? No way! Walk? Nah. Read? Aha! What a great idea! But what should I read? Maybe I can find something at the library. Book list in hand, I made my way across the deserted campus. Entering the library, I looked around. There was only a handful of people on the main floor. I made my way to the fourth floor, ready to find the perfect book. I entered a huge room full of rows and rows of bookshelves. As I wandered among the endless shelves of books, I stopped. It was quiet. I was completely alone. I breathed deeply and took in the musty smell of old, dusty books. I was in heaven. Thousands of books surrounded me. Thousands of worlds for me to explore, characters to meet. I spent hours in the library that afternoon. I never made it to the park.

It was over a month before I made it to the library again. With no homework or projects due this week and no one to entertain me, I decided I was in need of a good book. Not wanting to look like a complete loser going to the library for fun on a Tuesday night, I grabbed my backpack and made the walk across campus pretending to be on my way to study. Everything was different this time. It was dark. There were people outside. The library's main floor was packed with students. I hurried to the fourth floor...to my oasis in this desert of college life. As I made my way through the maze of shelves, I took a deep breath. That familiar musty smell filled my nostrils. I was alone again with whole worlds at my fingertips. I like the library at night. There's a certain air of mystery. It's slightly creepy. I jumped at every little sound. Yet strangely, I felt at home. Without a book list, I was unsure of where to start. I soon realized that there are so many good books that much of the world doesn't even know about. Why should I limit myself to those best-sellers and classic novels that everyone has heard of? I browsed row after row of books, stopping at all of the titles that caught my eye. I leafed through yellowing pages, read and reread inside covers, and laughed when I found myself face to face with the entire collection of Harry Potter books. There were so many great books to choose from. Finally deciding on two seemingly thrilling novels, I took one last deep breath and made my way towards noisy world of campus. I can't wait to go back to my little piece of paradise.