Connecting with Libraries

    I have nearly always lived within walking distance of a public library, starting in childhood when my mother took me to the Sayville Public Library for story time with Mrs. Haff. (For some reason I thought of her as Mrs. Half Moon - maybe because I thought she had to be half of something, so why not the moon?) When I learned to read I browsed the shelves for books about live dolls (Rumer Godden), magic (Edward Eager), and historical fiction like Calico Captive by Elizabeth Speare. 

     When I was in the seventh grade I took a part-time job as a library aid, working after school twice a week and more often in the summer. As I shelved books in the adult section of the library I discovered books on subjects hitherto unknown to me: Unitarianism, alien abduction, and the prophecies of Edgar Cayce. Having grown up in a Protestant church I was fascinated by the biographies of Saint Bernadette, Saint Therese the little flower, and Joan of Arc. History, with its catalog of wars and industrial inventions held little interest for me, but reading the biographies of historical women such as the Empress Josephine, Pocahontas, Abigail Adams, Dolly Madison, and Marie Curie revealed to me the "her-storical" perspective with which I could identify!

    When I was in high school I participated in a book discussion group at the library. We read books that would probably be banned from some school libraries today: Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin, Native Son by Richard Wright, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. We did not read anything by Zora Neale Hurston. We were in the midst of the civil rights movement, but the feminist movement had not yet made waves in Sayville, New York. (Even as an English major in college I read only male authors. Thus my decision to study women's literature at the Goddard Graduate School for Social Change.)

    I have been on a roll, reading every available novel that takes place in a library or bookshop. The heroine is inevitably called upon to save the library or store from closure. I know that book stores close, but I've never known a real library to be in danger of closing. When we lived in Walton, New York, the library was only open part-time, but 35 years later it is still open. When we moved to Oneonta in 1989 I was thrilled that the Huntington Memorial Library was a short walk from our house. I took my kids to story time there every week. Twenty-five years later I took my grandkids to story time at the same library. I was an avid patron of that library until our move to Delavan, Wisconsin in 2019. 

    Aram Public Library is one of my favorite places in my new hometown. A short walk from our house, I visit just about every week to borrow books for my reading habit. Far from the danger of closure, Aram is on track to build an addition over the next few years. Aram offers a lot more to the community than books and DVDs. It is the place to go to meet with like-minded people in discussion groups, classes, and many programs on a variety of topics. My favorites are the impersonators who portray famous people. So far I've met Abraham Lincoln, Jackie Onassis, and Amelia Earhart at the library!

    Wherever you live, you probably have access to a library. It's the place to go to connect with others through books and events. My husband, Mark, goes to the library to teach English as a second language to a Mexican resident. The population of Delavan is 23% Mexican and Aram caters to this population with a collection of Spanish books and DVDs. Sometimes they host a Bilingual Family Night or a bilingual discussion group. Every library is unique, but each one offers a myriad of ways for patrons to build bridges by learning about other people.