My lifelong love affair with books: Field Notes with Dennis Chastain
As a little kid growing up in the Slater mill village, one of my most memorable summertime events was the biweekly arrival of the bookmobile from the Greenville library. My mother would take me up to “The Building” — officially, Slater Hall — and the big, brown panel truck would be open for business. Inside there were shelves stuffed with children’s books and we could check out three books for two weeks.
I recall the sheer joy of scanning the shelves for just the right books to take home. It was like Christmas in July, except that it happened every two weeks. Even at that young age, the books I chose were those about nature, science, camping and outdoor adventure. Those books would take me to places I had never been, and teach me things that helped me understand the inner workings of the natural world around me.
Later, when I was 8 or 9 years old, my parents made weekly shopping trips to downtown Greenville. They would sometimes drop me off at the old library on North Main Street near the Springwood Cemetery. I remember the distinctive smell of the oiled wood floors and the comforting aroma of old books in old libraries. The bookmobile was one thing, but the Greenville Library changed my life. This is where I fell in love with books. Somewhere along the way, I realized that the books I read became a part of me, and taken together, they are an important part of who I am, and who I will always be.
My wife, Jane, taught kindergarten for 34 years, has a master’s degree from Furman in early childhood development, and was the first kindergarten teacher in Pickens County to attain National Board certification. She knows a thing or two about books and the impact of reading on people’s lives. She has taught hundreds of children to read and has instilled in them a love of learning.
When she goes to a baby shower, it’s a safe bet that she has a book for the soon-to-be-born child. The book comes along with the advice that “a child is never too young to be read to, even before they understand what is being said.”
Years ago, we befriended the manager of a local Mexican restaurant and for months he would tell us, in broken English, how excited he was about the pending arrival of his first-born child. Jane found a Spanish edition of Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” and presented it to him when the little girl was born.
She once gave a copy of Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax” to our friend, the legendary conservationist Tommy Wyche, with the inscription that she was giving him this particular book because, “You speak for the trees.”
This summer, pick out a good book to read. Put some thought into it, not just something that people say is a good read. Find a book about something that is near and dear to your heart — something that will take you to places you have never been and help you understand the world around you. It will become a part of who you are.
Dennis Chastain is a Pickens County naturalist, historian and former tour guide. He has been writing feature articles for South Carolina Wildlife magazine and other outdoor publications since 1989.
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