Laredo's Private/Public Library



At one time, only the Church & Royalty had books

 I was over at the main branch of the Laredo Library a couple of days ago. That's where Laredo's only book store is currently housed. I'm sorry to say that I can testify to the LMT's story this morning  that business there is disappointingly slow. This is especially true since the "book store" sits way back on the second floor. Even as I came out of the elevator upstairs, I was still not sure that there was a bookstore anywhere near. I had to walk around for a while but eventually I found it. There it was, way to the back.

The place looks nice and clean. I saw a rack with lots of magazines near the entrance. There was also some artwork on display. Near the front, were some racks with what is probably the "newest" books section.  To be honest, I didn't actually go inside at all. I guess it's because I didn't want to be the only person in there. Maybe I just wanted to walk in incognito. Because of this, I am sorry to say I cannot share more details about the inside of the book store with all of you.

Nevertheless, I applaud this effort to bring literacy back into the public conversation. I understand from LMT's article that Ms. Benavides plans to open a second book store at another library branch. The truth remains that reading should be all around us. Personally, I did not have a library card until I was probably in highschool. I don't even remember going into a bookstore until Mall Del Norte opened. What I do recall is that we used to go to Statler's News on the ground floor of the Hamilton Hotel. Statler's, from what I can remember, specialized in periodicals. We were always buying and reading something. Whether it was Ripley's believe it or not, Disney or Warner Brothers comic books or the always popular Marvel comics. There were also some places to buy used "comics". One of them was Filemon Pena's store downtown. Later, we could trade and/or buy used periodicals at a store named Guerra's. I don't remember the exact location but I think it was near Zacate creek and the Tex Mex bridge.

 At home, I remember reading whatever volumes of the World Book encyclopedia I could find. It had been a complete set once, but by the time I started reading there might have been a few letters (volumes) missing. Some of them had no covers from all the wear and tear. Even today, I try to read, although I admit that lately, it's mostly from the internet. Still, I do check out books from the library. I just don't get to them as much as I might have before.

Let's hope that the focus on literacy continues to in our community. Reading is a powerful thing. It's an old saying but it remains true, reading IS fundamental.