December 11, 2003

My friend: the Almaden Branch Library

By Judith Bernstein
Special to the Times

It seems like yesterday that we bought our first house in Almaden Valley. We were attracted to the area because of its country-like atmosphere. The house we bought was only three years old. The trees and shrubbery planted along our street were young and brave as they tried to make a go of it in the hot summer sun.

Now 28 years later, I look around and see that many of my earliest pictures of this area are gone. The fields on Coleman Avenue where my daughter and I used to stop to wave to the horses have given way to houses. I now fully accept as I drive over the bridge on Meridian at Coleman that I have a second way to leave Almaden and not just by Almaden Expressway. The once small Oakridge Mall that ended a little past Macy’s has once again reinvented itself into a major shopping area with new stores, grander movie theaters, restaurants, and parking structures.

But the change that will be the hardest for me to accept is that I will no longer have the old Almaden Library. I have such good memories of going there. First I went by myself and then with my children. The day after I moved into our new home, I went there to apply for my library card and to check out some books. I always felt like a child in a candy store: my eyes made large by the treats on the shelves that would be freely given to me. I also realize that I measure my children’s growth, not by pencil marks on the wall, but by their different library experiences: Friday’s Story Time, their first library cards, their selection of their own children’s books and their gradual evolution into the adult section.

I also see my younger self having to adjust to each new reorganization that the librarians made in the placement of books and furniture. It was here in my library that I learned how to go from the card catalogue to the computer in order to find books and videos. Then I had to learn how to use the computer to check out my own books and to renew them online.

Through all of these changes, the librarians have always been incredibly helpful and understanding. I was always happy to see their friendly faces. Sometimes I would drop by the library three times a week to regain some inner peace and to breathe the delightful smell of books.

On Dec. 14, the Almaden Library will be closed. As I drive past the new one on Blossom Hill Road, I am excited about the prospect of meeting a new library. But my heart is filled with regret at having to say goodbye to my old friend: the Almaden Branch Library on Camden.