I remember the books' colorful illustrated covers, once bright but faded a bit with age. On each, the boy genius used his latest fanciful, impossibly high-tech invention - an atomic rocket, a gigantic robot, a flying submarine - to save the day.
The Tom Swift books I found in my elementary school library were a reboot of the original, pre-World War II series, written with a Space Age sensibility in the 1950s and '60s. But by the time I discovered them as a third-grader in the late 1970s, the character and his promise of a sci-fi future had again become dated.
I didn't care. The books' retro feel, the sense that they had been popular for a long time, made them more intriguing. I devoured Tom's adventures one by one, living to pluck the next off the shelf during my home room's weekly library visit.
In many ways, that library set my course.
When it came time for my classmates and me to write our own stories, in pencil on folded manilla paper, illustrated in crayon, of course I made Tom Swift my hero. I remember the title, "Dr. Kerplansky's Secret Formula," but the plot, alas, escapes my recollection.
What never faded was how good it felt to see the delighted smiles of my teachers and parents, to hear their praise of my creativity and imagination.
My life has revolved around the written word ever since. What one library started, others continued to make possible.
After my family moved to a small Texas town, my weekends were not complete without a visit to the little trailer full of donated books that served as the public library. I read whatever I found that seemed at all interesting, maintaining my penchant for the fantastical, such as C.S. Lewis' Narnia series.
Later, in high school, I often drove the 30 miles to the nearest city with a mall, a movie theater and a library that could borrow books by mail from others even farther away. Long before the internet, it was the only way to get the sources I needed for my senior research paper, as well as other books I otherwise would only have heard of.
I can still feel the dizzy wonder of perusing the stacks in my university's library, surrounded by more books than anyone could ever read. And when later I made a pilgrimage to the New York Public Library's main branch, its iconic lion sculptures greeting me there, it was like a visit to some majestic cathedral.
Here too the library has sustained me. Whether it's been a bit of local history I had to pin down, a look at a new book I'd rather not pay for, or a distraction-free place to read and write, the Texarkana Public Library like an old friend has given me just what I needed.
Such stories are not hard to find. Not just writers but people in all walks of life tell of the refuge and excitement they felt as young people in libraries, the ideas they first encountered there, the librarians who took their questions seriously and rewarded their curiosity with perfect recommendations.
Even - or perhaps especially - in the digital age, that kind of experience is worth preserving.
Digital texts have made more information more available to more people than ever before, and that can only be a good thing. These days, using my Texarkana Public Library card to borrow electronic books through an app called Libby is one of my favorite ways to find new reading material.
But it's essential that there are places full of real books for people to explore, opportunities for them to find thrilling, moving and thought-provoking reading journeys they didn't even know they were looking for.
Each of us can help make that happen. Supporting our public libraries is as easy as joining the local Friends of the Library or donating funds.
Even easier, get a library card and take advantage of the resources there. Nothing speaks to the ongoing necessity and vitality of modern public libraries like lots of patrons using them.
Registration for the Texarkana Public Library's student summer reading program begins June 1, and this year's animal-centered theme is "Tails and Tales." It's the perfect chance to nurture a child's love of reading.
Who knows how that might change the course of their life?