Tuesday, February 1, 2022

 

 Oceanside Public Library


THE SOURCE

before Google

There is a wondrous place for all of us. A Place where the replenishment of our mind and soul is free, a Place where there is a quietude for our escape from the madding crowd of our lives, and it is a Place where we find the New, the Past, and perhaps the Future. This Place is our Oceanside Public Library. It is open all of the days of the week, and all are welcome. 

The  Entry for the O'side Library


Over the years, I have found refuge in these lovely and magical places of learning, and soul searching. Passing along the stacks, we find other worlds of possibilities. We find the histories of great men and women who have made our world what it is today. We can run our fingers over infinite possibilities of ideas to challenge our thinking minds. The What ifs are infinite...each book is there only to be touched and opened, we read and explore possibilities.   

These Places, reservoirs of history, we find ancient philosophers, Plutarch, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius the builders of monuments, Imhotep,Vitruvius Pollio , science of our past, present and future, are a gift to us. One of the most famous Libraries of all was The Library of Alexandria in Egypt. When it was lost, much of the historical writings of that era were lost along with it. Our own American History is replete with the building of Public Libraries in great cities and small towns.

The  Library of Alexandria ruins...              

In 1944, in the very small city of Etiwanda CA, the library was in a room of the Elementary School. I retreated there every day in the summer to read, and to be free to roam in the adventures which were in the fun books of the Black Stallion, Zane Grey, and Nancy Drew... At Whittier college 1954, the Mendenhall Building was a place for studies, and research.


The OED, located on its own platform, and preparation of exams, but it was also where I met my husband, and the proud old building is still there, beautiful, now the business center for the college.

There is a new venue for the Arts in our lovely Oceanside Library.  The visual arts, Paintings and sculpture are at home in this place for contemplation of what it all means. Artists of all genres have endeavored to tell their stories of what it all means to them by way of the visual arts, and we are so very fortunate to view the works from these story tellers presented within the framework of the visual arts.



Please join us on beginning on January 7th to view the enchanting works of Linda Phillips. A public reception is January 12, 3 to 5 PM.

Linda Phillips

Before Google, we knew that our search for knowledge, research, and the search for truth could be found at our local Public Library. We took our children, our students, and ourselves to these places of quite contemplation and hoped to find answers and adventures of other lands and the people who lived there. Now it is the I-phone to Google, and we find ourselves in the midst of the public arena full of hustle and bustle. Fingers no longer can explore the stacks of what ifs, and we are left with only the word of the moment... 

The new Library of Alexandria 
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)