Show your current San José Public Library card at The Tech Museum box office and receive a discounted admission rate of $5 per person (for up to 5 people) for the gallery exhibits. This is 50% off the standard admission charge. Offer excludes IMAX and special exhibits.
 

Like many Thanksgiving travelers this week, I ended up spending a bigger portion of my holiday in the airport than I expected.  My flight was delayed by 12 hours, so I was able to find a cozy spot and read the newest Scottoline book, My Nest Isn’t Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space: the Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman.  I was looking forward to this one because I had thoroughly enjoyed Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog.  Both of these books are a compilation of articles Lisa wrote that appeared in her weekly column “Chick Wit,” her witty and fun take on life from a woman’s perspective that appears in the Philadelphia Inquirer.  In the newest book, she focuses on enjoying life with her 5 pets, her octogenarian mother, and her college graduate daughter, and on being a writer and book tours.  The article that brought back a flood of memories for me was entitled, “Library Slut.”  Scottoline writes:
 

“I discovered my love of reading in my school library, where the notion of a whole room full of books seemed extraordinary …but my favorite thing about the library was my library card.  It was the first piece of grown-up ID that I got, and it felt like a veritable ticket to adulthood.  I carried it proudly in a padded Barbie wallet that otherwise held only a photo of Troy Donahue. …the Troy Donahue photo came with the wallet, from the days when wallets came with photos.  Nowadays, you’re on your own.  Your wallet has no friends…I will never forget my library card.  It was small, stiff, and orange and it bore my name in full.  Next to my name was a metal plate embossed with four numbers.  I use to go home and press my fingers against the numbers on the metal plate, which were freshly inked from my library trip.  Believe it or not, my numbers were 3937.  How do I remember that, when I can’t remember where I put my car keys? Simple.  Any memory lasts when it’s linked to an emotion. And the library card meant the world to me.  Its message was clear: I read, therefore, I matter.  It gave me an identity, as a reader.  It told me that others valued what I valued.  That I wasn’t alone, like some weirdo bookworm.  It’s a powerful message, one that I got loud and clear.  And it’s a message that librarians and libraries give every day, without knowing it, to children and to adults everywhere around the world.” In today’s busy world it’s good to know the message is still being received.
 

If you want to read her essays or any of Lisa Scottoline’s 17 mysteries for free, just open your wallet and find your faithful San Jose Public Library card. It’s probably placed right next to a photo of someone or something of meaning to you. Happy holidays!