National Library Week: A Love Story

Benjamin Franklin helped create the first American lending library. Today’s libraries are so much more.

National Library Week just ended and I want to pay my respects. I have often told my husband, if I could, I’d be buried in a library. I was raised as a churchgoer, but it was the library where I found spirituality.

The greatest gift my mother ever gave me was my love for reading (well, aside from giving birth to me and what not). We took frequent jaunts to our local library, where I would smell the books and play in the card catalogs. She would check out a huge stack of mysteries, and I’d ask her how she was going to finish them all. She’d just smile, because finish them she would.

Mom taught me there was no right or wrong in reading; no should or shouldn’t. You read what you love. But she also taught me that you are what you read, so we must be mindful. There is a lot of discussion now about allowing children physical freedom–to play in a park, to walk to school. But mom gave me something better: intellectual freedom. “Garbage in, garbage out,” she’d say. And that was all she said. My library card was mine to do with as I pleased.

Now, as I take my own kids to the library, they find magic in putting returned books on the conveyor belt, looking up authors on the computer, and browsing the shelves independently as I hang out in the adult section. Because each person’s library card is his or her own.

I also value the practical importance of libraries: the literacy programs , the free wi fi, the classes and activities, and the safe haven they provide. Bill Maher once blithely joked about no one using libraries anymore; only someone of privilege would say such a thing. Many people rely on libraries for vital services.

There is nothing more important to a democracy than free access to education and information. Not only do libraries provide that, but the American Library Association has been a vocal advocate for our right to privacy. Early and often, the ALA has raised the red flag about the government’s repeated requests for information. They also advocate for the modification of the Patriot Act.

One final note: There are an estimated 34 million adults in the U.S. that need help with literacy. If you have some spare time to volunteer, ask your local library about their adult literacy program. Helping someone learn to read or improve their reading is as good as it gets.