Dear Reader,
The party isn't quite over. We've been celebrating National Library Week every day with a fun giveaway. Today, for the big finale, I'm ready to bake. If you work at a library, be sure to enter today's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. If you're one of the three lucky winners, a batch of my homemade chocolate chip cookies will be delivered right to your front door. To see photos of past librarians and book club readers dunking and munching, and to enter, click here.
"Hi Suzanne, my library memory actually spans a number of years, beginning with my mother taking me to story time at my hometown (Carnegie) library. Mrs. McPherson was the children's librarian and I thought she had the very best job in the whole world. My love of library books and reading continued as I got older. I went to the library almost every week with my father, who was always reading at least two books at a time. He instilled in me a deep love of books, and he certainly led by example. Even after I went away to college, I continued going to the library with him when I was home. It was precious father/daughter time. No one (especially my dad), seemed at all surprised when I decided to pursue a master's degree in library science--a decision I have never regretted! Both of my parents are gone now, but their encouragement and love of books will always be with me. Thank you, Suzanne, for prompting this walk down memory lane!" -- Jane R.
"Dear Suzanne, I remember my childhood library like it was yesterday, and it's been 50 plus years since I've been there. I lived in Baltimore and my library was the Northwood branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. I would walk there sometimes by myself, sometimes with my younger brother... I could spend hours just looking and loving all the possibilities to explore and read. When I looked up the library to get the branch name, I saw that my walk was 1.1 miles each way, and my mother would let me just go by myself. Since we moved from that house when I was ten, I would have been pretty young making that trip. I'm sure it has been remodeled over the years, but I can still see the card catalog and the rows upon rows of shelving. Thanks for the prompt to bring back that memory. One of my great joys has always been to read with friends!" -- Sincerely, Mary S.
"Dear Suzanne, my hometown library in Cazenovia, NY had everything I needed as a young reader--a room full of children's books, plus a secret back corner where I could sit for hours and read books from the adult area, that the librarian wouldn't have let me check out yet. It even had a mummy upstairs! I lived close enough to walk there, and it was dark and cool inside during the long hot days of summer.
But I am even more appreciative of that same library now, which has grown to include an art gallery and special display area for the mummy. As my parents grew older they became avid patrons, bringing visiting grandchildren to select books, requesting interlibrary loans, and signing up for new releases. The staff of the Cazenovia Public Library have been unfailingly helpful. It's just my mom now, and I'm so thankful to the library for being supportive during her long year of pandemic isolation. When she called to ask about a poetry book that they didn't own, they bought it! She read from it nightly to her grandchildren in Miami and renewed it two or three times. Yesterday when I visited her, one of our errands was to return it.
I have so much admiration and respect for public library staff everywhere, who have stretched their services during this past year to continue to support their communities. Thank you to all of them." -- Jennifer G.
Thank you so much to everyone who shared library memories with me this week. I'll be posting the National Library Week winners next week in my column.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Celebrating National Library Week,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
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