About This Object

This is the contributor’s first library card that she got when she was just five years old, and now she is a librarian herself! It was also the start of her library card collection, which consists of cards from places she has traveled in Europe.

From the Contributor

Now the library is called the Lake Elsinore Public Library which is part of Riverside county public library system and they no longer make these cards anymore so it’s a collector’s edition, very special. I wasn’t really a big reader when I was a kid. And I don’t think I really discovered libraries until I got to college and just valued having the space - especially public libraries. Actually, when I studied abroad in Sweden I started going to the library there because Sweden is very expensive. I ran out of money in like a couple of weeks so I spent a lot of time at the public library because I knew I could go there for free, figured nobody would ask me any questions, and I could just hide out and do my thing there. So that’s when I kinda woke up and went “oh, libraries are a pretty cool thing” and that was the start of sorta set me on the path to becoming a librarian. —Leanne Nay