Celebrating National Library Week

Sitting with a group of neighbors, I decided to celebrate National Library Week by asking everyone to share a library story – any story – that had to do with an experience they had in a library. I did not specify age or location. Here are the results: A story about a stereotypical librarian who preferred order to patrons caused one of my neighbors not to check out books as a child. A story of a librarian who let young children read whatever they wanted to, no matter the content contrasted to a story of a librarian who called home to check with the parents before checking materials out to my neighbor as a young girl. One woman smiled from ear to ear sharing the story of the absolute wonders of a bookmobile and the joys of visiting each week in a rural setting. Another story was from a woman who loves to check out books but has difficulty returning items on time so library fines are a constant issue. Yet another neighbor shared that the library helped her with replacement values for items that were broken in a move so she could fill out forms for insurance – a good story as it was a reference testimony! My favorite story of the morning was a gentleman who admitted he isn’t a frequent user of libraries but he did become a literacy volunteer as an adult and met with his student in a library. He was paired with a young man who was a husband and a father but was unable to read. After three years of tutoring with my neighbor, both their lives changed. The last session concluded on Valentine’s Day and my neighbor encouraged his student not to forget to get his wife a Valentine card. The new reader replied, “I WILL! And this year I will be able to pick a sentiment that says what I really feel because now I can read.” What do libraries mean to the people around you?