| I love the library. Some places just feel right to me, and the library is one of them. Most of all I love the silence, but I also love the smell of books; the combination of paper and ink. My favorite place in the college library is the top floor because it is more than silent, it is like a vacuum. Every so often you might hear the soft shuffle of someone, somewhere back in the stacks, but most everyone on the top floor comes for the same reason, and they move like ninjas so as not to ripple the silence or throw a stone in your joy. It is respect, and all top floor frequenters respect this unwritten code. But more than the silence, it is the endless view of the sky that lures these lurking, taciturn souls to this attic sanctuary; this sacred bell tower. The ubiquitous blue through undetectable panes of glass, coupled with utter lack of sound, is palpably supernatural. There is an almost holy feeling to this room, and it reverberates from floor to ceiling, through long rows of books and back. It surrounds, fills all empty space, winds itself gently, like light, around your body: between the hairs on your arms which sometimes stand, resting on freckles, falling on eyelashes. It becomes like a friendly arm around you, and you relax into it or walk beside it.. Sometimes I just amble the rows, as if walking a labyrinth, and let my fingers lightly undulate across the spines of shelved books. Not once have I ever felt a lack of awe at all of the knowledge and hard work, and I touch as much of it as possible, because osmosis is a biological process: high concentration to low concentration. It could happen. |
