Our director, Dan Szczesny, writes a daily blog. Here is an excerpt from a recent post about the wonder of libraries.
There’s was a moment I really liked, in the middle of our library’s book fair, where I looked over near the book box loading area to discover a dad and his maybe five-year-old kid, just sitting on the floor of the gymnasium, reading.
I mean, what better sums up literally everything we try to do at the library, or really any library? Amid the chaos, the hundreds of people, the noise and uncomfortable surroundings, they decided to just plop down and read, their surroundings blocked out.
I don’t want to wax too philosophically about this, because it seems obvious enough that the primary goal of what we do – every day – is to provide a place, an atmosphere, a vibe, where anybody or anybodies, can just sit down and do exactly this.
And feel safe and at home doing it. Even if it’s not at the actual library. Even if they are surrounded by others. Even if it’s a hot day and the fans are barely keeping the place cool. If you don’t feel comfortable with us, you are not going to just sit down, ignore the world and read. You just aren’t.
After a bit the two of them collected their pile of books and headed to the check out. I noticed that they put the book that they had finished reading back onto one of the tables. They had finished it. It was going to be somebody else’s now.
Anyway, I hope that the next time you need space and safety, that you’ll consider a library. Any one will do. My bet is that they’ll even let you sit on the floor!