Just Why I Love Librarians

I've loved the library as long as I can remember. As long as I've been reading. As long as I could sign my name on my library card and could start bring books home, I've been a library lover. Growing up, we were a family with more imagination than "means." We made up our own entertainment, our own stories, our own songs. In fact, as I think about it, my upbringing was the perfect training for my work of the last fourteen years. It was also the perfect upbringing for making me a library patron extra-ordinaire.

We moved around the state of Indiana as I grew up. I'm a Hoosier. The very first thing we did as a family upon moving into a new location was to go en mass as a family to the local library and sign up for our library cards. I remember arriving in the major metropolis of South Bend from the sleepy little village of Batesville, most famous for it's casket making company. I remember being 'disoriented' by the sheer size of our neighborhood and the traffic!!

But right on cue, we went to the library and I attained my OWN library card. A building with books -- I was at home. I remember walking in that day in awe of the sheer size of the building, the shelves and the volume of books was astounding. But what I remember most is the librarian who asked me just what sort of books I liked to read. Being something of a bookworm, I shared with her that I was a BIG fan of the mystery and that I'd read all of the Nancy Drew series as well as all of the Hardy Boys adventures.

I remember her taking me by the hand and walking me all of the way across the children's department into the ADULT section. She walked me over to the Agatha Christie shelf and told me that she thought I might be ready for Hercule Poirot. It was a pivotal moment in my life. I was about to enter fifth grade and here was an adult listening to me and making a genuine suggestion for my reading pleasure and maturity. I don't know that I ever knew her name, but I am always in debt to her for her welcome & her taking me seriously.

Just one of the many reasons that I love librarians!!

In the land of literacy, one person can make a world of difference to one reader-in-the-making. It might be a kindergarten teacher -- thinking all summer long how to improve the layout of the room for the warmest welcome in launching an individual education. It could be junior high English teacher making an insightful comment on a short story. It might be a college professor taking the time to go beyond the blue book's midterm essay feedback.......... or it might be the local librarian, listening & guiding & keeping the love of reading alive as maturity makes a hurdle forward. It takes a village!!

Who were the 'reading fairies' in your life? The ones who kept your passion for a good book alive? Were there specific teachers in your experience? An author's book that made you tingle with joy over their rich use of language? Was there a librarian in your journey that introduced you to a new shelf of adventure? I'd love to continue the conversation in the comments section here. Please share a teacher, a book, a librarian that made a difference for you.