Libraries, temples of learning.

Cazenovia Library, temple of learning.



At the age of four, I started visiting this temple that is the Cazenovia Park Library, in South Buffalo, N.Y. I hadn’t yet learned to write, so my older brother Jimmy forged my signature on an application for a Library Card. It was to become one of my most treasured possessions.



The card admitted me into a universe that spanned the history and makeup of the globe. I started reading with such literary epics as “The Adventures of Cowboy Bob,” and “See Dick and Jane run,” with faithful dog Spot at their sides. Through the years, with the help of competent Library professionals at this temple, I discovered America. I then ventured to discover places very far from home. Tolstoy & Solzhenitzin partnered with Michener, a bevy of Irish American writers and all of the late 19th century American novelists to educate me on how to put a few sentences together. Shakespeare, Hemmingway, Falkner, Rutherford and others were yet to come. They would continue and refine my education and broaden my education.



I spent many hours in this quiet temple of erudition. Silence then was the order of the day in Libraries. You could sit quietly and read for hours on a cold or dreary day. The world in a very real sense came to me in this quiet refuge. My imagination was set afire many times with adventures of lands and people very far away.



Since that time, I have wandered into Libraries in many lands. In all of them, I carried with me the same sense of quiet awe and respect for the information assembled. Herein lay the story of man’s adventures on earth for the last few thousand years. And it was all available for me to read about and enjoy.



Although I no longer live nearby, whenever I do pass by this memorable venue of erudition, on Cazenovia St, in South Buffalo, I smile at all of the memories I have of the many hours spent reading and exploring within. Thank you Cazenovia Library, for the education.

Joseph Xavier Martin