By: Gin Butler; Ambassador
I’ll start with some self-disclosure; I don’t have a college degree and yet I’ve had four careers, all of which were great growth experiences and very lucrative. You might be wondering, “how could that be possible?”. Well, the answer is BOOKS. Bound pages and reading are so important to me.
Early in my life, I discovered the joy of reading; it was my way of escaping. Later, reading became a way to educate myself.
My father died early in my life, leaving my mother with five girls to raise. She was a realist, to say the least. As a result, we were never allowed to read any “fairy tales”. The first book she read to us was the Bible. In school we had reading days. Each day had a theme where you had to pick a topic; read all you could find about it; and discuss with the class. Those topics were current events, government, entertainment, literature, history, etc. At the time, I thought it was a pain in the “you know what”. Yes, you’ve probably figured out by now that was decades ago. There I go dating myself.
Nonetheless, now I look back with fondness on that time in my life. I’m grateful that I grew up without all of the electronics that my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have access to today. I continue to entertain/educate myself with books.
As an avid reader, my reading habit is eclectic, to say the least, much like the life I lead. I have read books from Tolstoy, to Rosabeth Moss Canter, to James Patterson to Dr. Seuss. Yes, Dr. Seuss. Remember, I have grandchildren and great grandchildren! I read magazines (Okay, I do pick up People occasionally), the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and others. And by others I mean I find the longest lines in the grocery store so I can read The Enquirer!
All of the above reading has enabled me to attain a certain amount of success, travel the globe with reasonable knowledge of the country, to be more socially active due to my ability to converse on many different topics.
I realize that my situation is no longer the “norm”. There are few, if any, major corporations that would even entertain the idea of hiring me without at least an undergraduate degree. However, I still have an education from so much reading. Fortunately, my children are duplicating that strategy with my grandchildren and great grandchildren.
As a result, I encourage all of you to make use of our Sam Gary Library, as well as our few lending libraries.
Central Park continues to provide its residents with a plethora of resources to enrich their minds, hearts and souls. So I do hope you will enjoy a visit to Sam Gary Library, named after the individual responsible for a major part of the Central Park’ history!
Whatever you do, grab a book & HAPPY READING!
