Nice to Meet You!

Hello! My name is Deb Caton, and I am excited for the opportunity to be the next Wickson District Library Columnist. I have lived in Frankenmuth for about 14 years. My two kids graduated from Frankenmuth High School within the past few years, and we have all been library users and fans. I taught high school and college-level English and psychology for about 15 years, and these days I am a full-time learning developer for a local industry and a regular bike rider and hiker.

Though I always loved reading, I rediscovered reading for pleasure during 2018 when I moved out of teaching. I started to remember all the reasons I love reading – the ability to escape into another world, to create pictures in my head of places and characters (then get upset when the movie version doesn’t match!), and to learn. Also in 2018, for a road trip to Drummond Island, I filled the long driving hours with the audio cd version of The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Wow! What a discovery! Audiobooks, I learned, were better than I had anticipated. Since then, when I am not working or spending time with others, I am almost always listening to an audiobook or two, and I get 99% of these from Wickson through the Libby app.

Today, I love reading more than ever. I read most genres, hopping around from a psychological thriller to historical fiction to light romantasy to science fiction. I have discovered the ups and downs of book series, and I have learned that I am not a goal-oriented reader – no counting how many books I read each month or each year. I have also learned new “reader slang” like DNF (Did Not Finish) and TBR (To Be Read). Now I know that I can DNF a book and not feel one bit guilty about it! I have also reincorporated reading paper books in the evenings. Reading just a chapter or a few pages of a book held in my hands, a book clip light with a yellow hue illuminating the pages, is a wonderful way to relax and inhabit another world for just a bit before sleeping.

Growing up, the Bookmobile came to our neighborhood every summer, and I constantly checked books out of the library. The library was where I did my homework during college, where I learned and taught others how to do academic research, where I eventually took my kids to enjoy story time and experience the world of books, and where I continue to go to engage with books and people. In writing this column I hope to share the beauty and importance of Wickson and all libraries, expound on the joy of reading and talking about books, and continue to encourage people to experience the library.