Why I buy my own books

I was in 6th grade I discovered the books of Piers Anthony in my school library. He wrote the popular young adult fantasy Xanth series. I had never read fantasy before. I loved it. I was completely enthralled with the story and for perhaps the first time really started enjoying reading.

But I read slow. Really slow. I relished reading it, and I didn’t want it to be over. I renewed the book 3 times and still had a quarter of the book left. The last time I renewed it the librarian and my teacher questioned why I was checking it out again, as though I wanted to keep the book for the rest of my life because I liked the weight of it in my backpack. They pointed out that I had had it for almost a month, and asked what in the world I was doing with it.

It kind of scared me–I felt like I was doing something wrong, like I was reading incorrectly or poorly. I finished the book quickly and returned it. Ever since then I’ve never liked checking out books from libraries–I always prefer buying my own copy. It’s sad because I like the ideas of libraries and even volunteer in one myself. But I can’t stand that looming deadline.