Everybody’s telling library stories, so I guess I’ll lob a few in here. Ssshhh. Quiet. We’re talking about libraries.

So the Rombach clan pulled up stakes and relocated back when I was a youngster heading into fourth grade. My mom, who is good at mom stuff, asked to have a look at the new school to make sure they were teaching things right. Due diligence. Good work, mom.

The tour made its way into the library where little kiddos sitting in a circle were captivated by an older guy reading to them. The kids were leaning, hands on chins, just riveted. He was doing different voices and whatnot. “Who is that guy?” my mom asked.

“That’s Ken Kesey. He lives nearby. Comes down and reads to the kids once in a while. He’s pretty good, isn’t he?”

Yeah. Pretty good. If you haven’t read “Sometimes A Great Notion,” I’m not sure you’re technically an Oregonian. Holy smokes, that scene with Joe Ben.

Kind of an interesting side note is that I grew up being pals with Fargo Kesey, a relation of Ken’s. A few times, I got home and was asked what we’d been up to. Ah, you know, Fargo brought us over to his uncle Ken’s place for a party. Pretty good music. Mom would lean in and examine the dilation of my pupils. Due diligence.

The library I probably spent the most time loitering in is in Maui, Hawaii. I’m looking at my old Hawaii State Public Library System card right now. It’s thumbtacked above my desk because of fond memories and also it’s just a sweet looking library card. Got a hibiscus flower on it. Pretty snazzy. Number 0014398739, if you want to check stuff out in my name. Knock yourself out.

The Lahaina, Maui, public library may or may not have saved my life. I was young and dumb and bought a cheap sailboat in Hawaii. Her name was “Teru.” I did not know the first, or second or third or any number of things about how to sail or handle a boat.

It was almost certainly a bad choice. But an exciting and kind of awesome bad choice. The only thing I had going for me was a library card.

The Lahaina public library, I’m here to tell you, has lots of books with useful information about what to do if you have a boat. My friends started calling me the Paper Captain.

“What do you do in the event of blah-blah-blah?” Well, I’m not there yet. That’s chapter 12.

I had several hair-raising near-disasters in Teru. Almost sunk her, in fact. Didn’t quite read fast enough, I guess. But the important thing, I think, is that the public library system helped me know what I was doing wrong as I was doing it wrong, even if my experience couldn’t keep up with the study of how to stay afloat.

Then there was a purely magical day when I was sitting in my little boat in Lahaina Harbor reading a Tom Robbins novel I got from the library where he talks about how beautiful Lahaina Harbor is. And, I mean, I was sitting right there.

I looked out a porthole and had to agree. Palm trees. Sunshine. All that jazz. It was just the best. I felt like I was doing things right at that particular moment. Incidentally, that’s how I’ve felt since moving to Wallowa County, minus the palm trees, but tamaracks make a perfect substitute.

I vote “yes” on libraries. Books are a good thing. And libraries seem like a good place to find them. Let’s keep ‘em around.

Jon Rombach’s expired library card number is 0014398739. His current Wallowa County Library card number is none of your beeswax. He writes a column for the Chieftain.