Library Love
It’s National Library Week, and that, along with the Trump administration’s call for eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services (the federal agency that supports and provides funds for America’s libraries), has me reflecting on what public libraries mean to me.
My first memory of going to the library is from when I was about 5 years old, in my hometown, Russellville, Kentucky. I was staying with my aunt on Second Street, and my teenage cousin Pat asked if I wanted to walk with her to the library on Sixth Street. Of course I did! I would follow Pat anywhere. The distance was about a mile, and I remember thinking my little legs weren’t going to make it, but they did. I checked out a storybook about a girl who didn’t have a mouth. Seriously. This is the kind of horror that we exposed children to in 1971. But THE POINT IS I went to this magical place called a library with my cousin and checked out a book, and I’ve been doing this regularly ever since.
Although my hometown library existed since the 1930s as a small collection of books in a room in various other buildings, the library taxing district was established by petition in 1966, the year I was born, and the library opened in its own building in 1967, according to Logan County Public Library’s website. It’s hard for me to imagine that there was a time (not that long ago!) when my hometown didn’t have a true library. It’s even harder for me to imagine that that could be a future reality for many communities in the U.S. if we don’t recognize and support the important services that our tax dollars provide.
I also have early memories of browsing the bookmobile when it came to my neighborhood. A truck full of books! What a wonder!
I had the good fortune of attending Russellville Middle School when it was located downtown, so my friends and I would often walk three blocks to the public library after school. We’d gather at a big table and do our homework . . . and then get into conversations, which required shushing . . . and just when I’m sure the librarian was ready to kick us out, we’d finish up and head down to the town square to buy Cokes and Jolly Ranchers.
In fifth grade, I co-wrote a chapter book titled The Skateboard Gang (shout-out to my co-writer, Cheryl!), which won us the opportunity to attend a young writers’ competition at what was then the Bowling Green (now Warren County) Public Library. It seemed huge to me and super-impressive, especially the mid-century modern open staircase with the jungle-esque background wall. I truly felt like I had arrived when our book won a prize.
Years later, working my first full-time job as an editor in Lexington, Kentucky, I longed to be able to afford to buy a stack of books at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, but, since I couldn’t, I picked up stacks of books for free at Lexington Public Library. In fact, before my children were born and my reading time became more scarce, I typically read one or two library books per week.
After my children were born, I took them to story time and many other children’s programs at the public library. Visiting the library and choosing books and videos was one of our favorite activities for many years. I still tease my older daughter, Sara, about her love for a book about Disney villains that she wanted to check out every time we visited. We’d check it out . . . turn it back in . . . pick out something else to read . . . come back a week later . . . and check out the villains again.
Last year, Warren County Public Library’s Capitol Theatre was the site of my book launch for The Evolution of the Gospelettes. It was such a fun, memorable, special night and a great reminder to me of how much libraries enrich our lives. I often attend fantastic author events hosted by the library, led by WCPL’s fabulous director, Courtney Stevens (a writer herself).
For many of us in small towns, rural places, inner cities—anywhere that seems removed from where the movers and shakers and cultural leaders are—libraries are beacons of learning, imagination, adventure, and hope.
Libraries welcome everyone. Libraries provide free access to information, enlightenment, and entertainment. Libraries have audiobooks, electronic books and periodicals, and movies that you can access (again, for free) on your own device, without having to leave your home. Libraries offer fun and educational programs for children. Libraries serve disadvantaged members of our communities who need computers, high-speed internet access, literacy classes, and employment assistance. Many libraries these days even have cool equipment that community members can use like sewing machines and 3-D printers.
Free public libraries are essential.
If you agree, would you do one or more of the following?
Go to your local library this week and check out a book or use one of their many other services.
Join or donate to your local Friends of the Library organization.
Let your representatives in Congress know that you want them to protect our libraries.
Go to ilovelibraries.org and become a supporter of the American Library Association.
Let librarians know you appreciate the important work they do.
Share in the comments or in your own post what libraries mean to you and why we should value and protect them.
Dreaming of a land of well-funded libraries,
I think the Warren County Public Library’s Book Mobile may have saved my life when he parked at the Rock Mart on Wednesday afternoons. That little truck was a beacon of hope that there was a world bigger than my own somewhere.