In Praise of Libraries

“Having fun isn’t hard, when you’ve got a library card, “Arthur the Aardvark.

729 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116. An address I can rattle off in my sleep 15 years after I worked there. On the second floor there was a tailor shop where the three sisters worked, all in their 70’s, none of whom had ever married. They had worked in the same 10’ x 12’ foot shop since after the war, the big one, WWII, after inheriting the business from their father. I employed their services to alter my wedding dress I had picked up for $50 at a resale shop. It cost me more to have it altered and boy, did they have fun at my expense as I would model the dress with straight pins sticking into my skin.

I worked on the 5th floor which also had roof access. This was the place to be on Boston Marathon Day where we could peer over the edge to see the skinny, sinewy runners crossing the finish line as we ate our bagels and drank coffee.

The office building was nestled between the Pizzeria Uno and down from Au Bon Pain where I would buy my salads and eat them at my desk which had a lovely view into a light well where pigeon poop, air conditioning vents, fire escapes, soda lids, cigarettes butts and old plastic bags would greet me. But on a beautiful day in the spring, summer or fall, I would take my salad and go into the secret courtyard of the Boston Public Library.

I would enter on the North Side under the words of the libraries Board of Trustees etched high above, “The Commonwealth requires the education of the people as the safeguard of order and liberty”. But I wasn’t interested in the education, I was interested in a bit of solace, a safe and quiet space, a free place to sit where no one would bother me, the phone wouldn’t ring, and I could read while eatting my salad balanced on my lap.

Having sneaky relationships with libraries is an indulgence I have had since I was little and I would go to the Linden Hills Library in Minneapolis. Upstairs was the adult section where I learned the meaning of the word “Quiet”. Downstairs was the children’s section where I would sit for hours lost in another world, then wake up my legs, put on five layers of clothes and walk home with my new treasures. All for free! As someone once said, “Knowledge is free at the library – just bring your own container.” Unfortunately, while I have no problem finding the bottom of the container, I have trouble finding a lid that fits properly and the knowledge keeps sloshing out. So I keep going back for another fill up.

At St. Olaf College my student job was working at the Rolvaag Memorial Library, checking out books, shelving books and one ridiculously magical night tap dancing on the tables once we were closed. At Graduate School at Tufts University I would study down in the basement in the deathly quite, rarely used, study carols until the notorious flasher found me and from then on I would study in the well lit and highly populated reading room.

Once I had kids I realized libraries weren’t just about sneaky spaces and free books but hubs for the community and opportunities to find friends and outlets for stay at home moms who were going nuts with their babies stuck at home. Story time. Sing Along Time. Arts and crafts time. A place to go. Again, all for free.

In London the stinky Golders Green Library with their dirty toys and limited selection of sticky children’s board books had a redeeming grace: it netted me an introduction to Wallace and Grommit, and my dear fried Mei Chen. We had been in London for just a few weeks and the library was a destination for 1 ½ year old Simon, 6 year old Josh and me. We could walk there, do our shopping along the way, check out books and stop for a snack as headed home. On a fateful October 16, 2003, Mei and Justin, her almost 2 year old, were there as well. We chatted, we laughed, we chatted some more, the boys played. By the end of the quick encounter we had exchanged numbers and Simon and I were invited to Justin’s birthday party the next day. We have been great friends ever since. Score another win for the library!

Since we have been back in the US we have been using the public libraries as classrooms to home school our boys, warm places to retreat to on cold rainy days, plug in our computers, use their free wifi, and explore the books on the shelves in a safe inviting atmosphere.

From The Mark Skinner Library in Manchester, Vermont to the Lincoln Library in Springfield, IL, to the Minneapolis Public Libraries, Great Forks, North Dakota, Thompson Manitoba, Ketchum, Idaho Community Library, and now Hood River, Oregon we have been checking out material and seeing what is going on in the local communities.

To paraphrase Lady Bird Johnson, there is no other institution that is more democratic than a town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.