11 Comments

  1. amy a.

    I learned to shelve in 3rd grade from a librarian who would only call me by my last name. This librarian also put me on the radio to read my award winning book report on “The Dandy Lion”. I wish I could remember her name.

  2. Heidi

    Thanks as always for doing this!

    Libraries were such a sanctuary for me as a girl, all the way through my 20s. First for books and then for poring over backdated issues of Variety before the Internet was born.

  3. The library was like a second home to me as a kid, and it makes me sad that it probably won’t be for my children. Our local library is quite small and is only open 5 days a week, with further cuts in money/hours on the horizon. Boo.

    My hometown library, however, is thriving! We make a point of visiting whenever we’re in town. Their children’s room may actually be larger than our entire library. It remains a vital part of the community and would be one of the main reasons I would ever consider moving back.

    My childhood librarian was Hazel Westgate, an eccentric woman who loved kids and books with equal measure. I googled her and came across this essay that mentions her. I thought it would fit right in with the Dewey theme here this week.

    http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/299

    Off to donate…

  4. my mom was born in my childhood library. you see, it was a hospital before it was my library. and now it’s a non-profit and my little hometown got a new big library with a fireplace!

    related: I went to the library on my wedding day. to calm down.

    I love libraries.

  5. i love anything that reminds me of my mom- libraries are forever #1. i can’t wait til my NNAF fundraiser is over (after next weekend) so i can not just donate but tweet & FB it up for y’all. i can’t donate til after but i’m going to do what i can. i love Dewey. <3

  6. Melissa Martinez

    My middle school librarian provided me a safe place away from mean girls. Just went to the library last night. FREE BOOKS – what’s not to love?

  7. Allie Gerlach

    I remember my Mom taking me to the library and limiting me to only one brown paper grocery sack full of books each trip. Only one! Aw, geez Mom!

    Luckily we went every 3 or 4 days.

    My mom actually wasn’t much of a reader herself, but she knew libraries were important and special places.

    • OH MY GOD my mom did that too!!

      And then I’d beg and promise to carry at least one bag of books myself and sometimes she’d let me get two.

      To this day, when I’m in a library or a bookstore, I try to carry all my prospective books with me to make sure I’ll be able to get them home by myself.

      Come to think of it, I do that with groceries too. No rolly carts for me! I got arms!

  8. badkittyuno

    I had a free period in six grade bc I was a smarty-pants and tested out of a class. This meant I got to spend 50 minutes EVERY DAY in the library, using my time as I saw fit. I decided to use this time to start at the As, and read every book in the place. I didn’t make it too far, but two of the first authors I picked up were Douglas Adams and Piers Anthony. I’ve been a sci-fi/fantasy lover ever since.

    • YES THIS. I had one at the beginning of the day in 8th grade because in my junior high we could choose whether to take 7 classes or 8. (Or some numbers like that.) But we were required to be on campus during our free periods even if they were at the beginning or end of the day (WTF) so I hung out in the library the whole time.

      In my case I decided to read “all the classics” (aka whatever our school library had that I thought was famous)… I read The Great Gatsby, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and How Green Was My Valley, and Mama’s Bank Account, and Flowers for Algernon, and I tried to read Uncle Tom’s Cabin… and then when I got tired of that stuff, I’d re-read the novelization of Superman IV.

      I read Superman IV a LOT that year.

      But I do remember Flowers for Algernon and Mama’s Bank Account better.

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