"Libraries Transform" is 2016's National Library Week theme. Libraries stand for equal access to information for all. They educate. They provide refuge. They are a place to explore. They offer community.
Many authors have written odes to libraries in poetry and prose, such as:
Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.-Ray Bradbury
and
People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.–Saul Bellow
and
A library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life.–Norman Cousins
Here's a true story. A man came into his public library, day after day, week after week, using an online practice test resource to improve his academic skills. Finally, he announced to the librarian that he had passed his GED test because of the practice test program provided there at no charge. She congratulated him and was even happier when he came in again to announce that he'd gotten a good full-time job.
Sometimes, librarians and their patrons transform together! Click here to see Carmen Agra Deedy read her book The Library Dragon.
How have libraries transformed your life?
I'm blessed; I really don't know what life is like without a library. I suppose especially when I was a kid and early adult, libraries provided me with the books I couldn't afford or have access to (because our town didn't have a bookstore).
ReplyDeleteHooray for you and libraries! My town had neither, but somehow we always had books, and my friends & I would swap--Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc. In HS, I was a library aide. The rest is history. ;) Thanks for the comment, Deb!
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