Went back to my childhood library after 20 years

Walked into the same library I used to bike to as a kid and the smell of old books was still there but now they've got a whole floor of computers and 3D printers. Did the digital stuff kill the quiet study rooms or is that just how things are now?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam1724d ago

Been to three libraries just this month and saw the same thing. The one in my town turned the old magazine reading room into a recording studio for podcasts. Nobody sits in the quiet corners anymore, they're all hunched over laptops in the coffee shop section. Makes you wonder if kids even know the feeling of finding a dusty book on a shelf that nobody's touched in years. The smell of old books still triggers something in my brain though, like a shortcut straight back to being ten years old and hiding in the back stacks. Kind of sad that we traded that for 3D printers and charging stations.

the_angela18d ago

Oh man, I feel this so hard. I was at my childhood library last week and the kids' section had all these iPads chained to the tables. There's still a tiny shelf of picture books in the corner but it's so sad. I still remember the exact spot where I found a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth that had been checked out maybe twice since the 70s. That crinkly plastic cover and the card pocket in the back with the due date stamps. You just can't get that feeling from tapping a screen.

charlienelson24d ago

Man I never thought about it like that but the old book smell is actually a chemical thing, the breakdown of lignin in paper over decades creates that specific scent we all associate with childhood libraries. They literally can't replicate that with e-readers or new printed books, it's a physical process that takes time and air exposure. Kinda wild that we're trading something that literally only exists through age and patience for instant gratification setups.