An Ode to Libraries
5 Years Old: My father brings me to the library once a week to check out books and movies for himself. My first memories are in the Great Neck library, where the children’s section was adjacent to the front desk. I wander under the wooden archway and run around the aisles of plastic-covered picture books. A ginormous stuffed giraffe eyes my every move. I make my father stay with me as I carry too many books for my 5-year-old body, lay them on the ground, and read with him in a beanbag chair for the afternoon.
7 Years Old: I hear about the many marvels of a computer. We don’t have a computer at home in 2004, so I insist we go to the library. I log onto the PC with my library card number, which I memorized only days after receiving it. My sister and I spend hours upon hours playing games on these machines. Backyard Baseball. KidPix. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
9 Years Old: I go to the library once a week to submit my summer reading books. I read 4-5 books a week. At that age, I had never been more proud of myself. The names of my literary childhood friends are etched into my mind: Cam Jansen. Junie B. Jones. Ramona the Pest.
10 Years Old: I discover who Charles Schutlz is. My sister and I check out every Peanuts anthology book that the library has. We read them week after week and renew them continuously, infatuated. I come home after school everyday to study the anthology, almost memorizing the comics. My sister also begins a Calvin and Hobbes obsession.
14 Years Old: In 7th grade, I still haven’t found my niche yet. My parents suggest I take a class at an afterschool program called “Levels” in the basement of the library. I sign up for a sewing class, where I learn how to hand-sew and use a machine. A couple of months later, I am approached by the theater director to design costumes for the program’s upcoming production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” I accept, thus beginning a passion for the world of costume design. I become so heavily involved in the Levels productions throughout my middle/high school career that I graduate having participated in over 20 productions. Learning how to sew at Levels propelled me into becoming the Costume Crew Director for my high school’s productions, as well as a costume intern at Shakespeare in the Park. While I did not continue in a career of costume design, I am grateful for the opportunities my hometown library has given me in the field and have since appreciated all that goes into making a garment.
22 Years Old: I am camping in the middle of Utah with my Conservation Corps.
My Assistant Crew Leader hands me headphones to watch a video she put together while in the library. It brings me to tears.
22 Years Old: I move to Los Angeles and discover the Santa Monica library. In my new (but very old) Volkswagen Passat, I drive myself to Santa Monica and navigate the library garage for the first time. I am amazed at how glass panels there are in a single library. I discover the library has a museum about the history of Santa Monica. I spend the entire afternoon there applying for jobs, and frequent back a few more times.
23 Years Old: The pandemic hits. All libraries close down. I lose my job and am home everyday with my entire family, feeling claustrophobic for months on end. I use my mother’s iPad to discover an e-reader that lets me check out books. I am ecstatic to discover that the majority of books on my “to read” list are on this e-reader. I apply for jobs in the morning, and read in the afternoons. I like to take advantage of reading in the Los Angeles sunshine, as it is the one of the only things bringing me happiness in the midst of global catastrophe.
My father, the one who brought libraries into my life, continues to check out books and movies once a week. He ran into my room last weekend, beaming with great news: the local library is reopening for in-person services in May! I know that years into the future I will have that exact same enthusiasm towards the establishment that helped raise me. My first library memories have so quickly become my latest, from a naive toddler to young adult navigating life during a pandemic. If I am certain of anything, it’s that the library certainly changed who I grew up to be. I owe the library all the gratitude that I can give. ◆