A story of a life of reading

MY first encounter with a municipal library was when I was a child in junior primary school. My mom and dad would pop us boys in the car and go to the library in Westville. there was a wide selection of picture books for me to read. It was a precious time being read to by mother or father at home before bed.

I developed the skill of reading through listening to my parents tell me stories, and through the gradual reading of junior fiction books at junior primary school.

For two years, I was overseas in England for schooling and came back to continue my schooling in Pinetown. My reading skills developed further in senior primary school, and I began reading independently of school. I gained enjoyment from the Enid Blyton Famous Five and Secret Seven, and I enjoyed the nature adventure stories of Willard Price. I also enjoyed the hardy Boy stories of Franklin Dixon. My favourite comic books were the Asterix series of wonderful cartoon stories.

We moved to the Drakensberg and I boarded at a high school in the Midlands. I always enjoyed the school library, and my English lessons were exciting with amazing novels, plays and poetry. then it was back to Durban, and at high school I enjoyed going to the library and doing my book reviews as I read new books. I enjoyed Alistair Maclean’s writing. English was interesting with plays, poems and novels - and I improved my Afrikaans reading, as it is my second language. Reading is essential to succeeding in life. My reading ability became better throughout school, and I then went to university to read and study academic works. u niversity libraries became my second source of gaining knowledge of the courses I studied.

As I made my way through my career life at work, libraries maintained their fascination for me. Now I find joy reading e-books, with hundreds of e-books on my phone.

Libraries must not be neglected as an important service to the public, because they are essential on every person’s journey through reading - whether they be municipal public libraries, school libraries or university libraries.

- Chris Sparks