National Library Week

This week is National Library Week, and the theme is Lives Change @ Your Library. The American Library Association encourages everyone to share what the library means to you.

The library has always been one of my favorite places, and I know without a doubt, my life wouldn’t be what it is today without the library. Books have always been where I found hope, family, friends, and at times even salvation. The library wasn’t just a place where I could check out books and take them home, but a place where I knew I could find myself and grow.

One of my very first memories was going into the bookmobile when I lived in Tuscon, Arizona. I was four-years-old and amazed by all the books the bus had in it. Even better, I was able to check out two books and take them home. The book I loved most was about a ladybug who went, of all places, to the library. I can’t remember the name of the book or any other details. All I remember is the ladybug, her carrying books, the library she visited, and that I loved…capital L O V E, loved that book. I started reading at 4, and have loved doing so ever since.

Libraries are where I’ve expanded my reading interests. It’s easy to get comfortable even and stick with a preferred genre. I find using the library makes it easier for me to be more spontaneous with the worlds I experience. Sometimes when I go to the library, I’ll pick a row at random and walk down it. My goal is to check out one book from those shelves.

When I get bogged down with a large to-do list and have to take off reading time, I find I miss it. I miss it like a friend I haven’t been able to see for a while. I yearn to pick up a book. I feel an overwhelming desire to read. I need to go into a world that isn’t mine…real or fictional. It’s like a taking a small vacation (one that doesn’t cost much). I love going to new and different places, ones I might not get to otherwise.

But the best thing about reading is what I learn. The challenges, direct and indirect, that I’m faced with when seeing through another writer’s eyes. I experience worldviews that aren’t my own. I come away with a new perspective, or at a better understanding of the view not my own, one I wouldn’t have considered with just going on my own personal experiences and knowledge. It’s not just non-fiction where I learn and stretch myself, but also fiction. What I love most appreciate about libraries is the ability to step outside of myself and “become” someone else for a short while.