My son Perry is crazy about trains. He always has been. So for us, Christmas will be (again) a snarl of tracks and steam engines and train books and videos.

But it turns out that you don't have to be three-and-a-half years old to be a train buff.

I have always been a reader, and have always hung around libraries. As a child, I mostly read science books. As a young adult, I mostly read fiction and science fiction. The progression was from fact to speculation, to the collection of human stories and the probing of the possible.

But sometimes the most touching stories come from real life.

For instance, I've just returned from my father's funeral. He died on October 3. On the 11th of this month, he would have been 73.

Recently I attended a Colorado Library Association conference, and in particular a session on library construction projects.

Such projects fall into three basic types. The first is a new library in a new location. The second (and probably the more common) is the library remodel. The third is the construction of a new library on the same site as the old one.

This week I have several items.

First, at our Parker Library, on October 30, we'll be holding our traditional (seven years in a row) evening of Scary Stories. At 7 p.m. we have our "Tales for the Fainthearted," designed for children ages 3 to 8 and their parents. This session has lots of audience participation and some guaranteed laughs.