Most library days start out the same. The whole family is up and bustling because it is “library day.” Chores are dispensed with swiftly, school lessons get started early so as to finish most of them before families arrive, and Emily is flitting around the library shelving books and pulling books mothers have requested to be set aside for them.
We can check the computer to see who will be coming because their books are due, but we know others pop in more frequently. Still, we can never be sure exactly what or whom the day will bring. This week promised to be a light one, so Emily decided to pull out her supplies and stay busy cleaning and labeling and covering books being added to our collection. Usually, the day starts with a trickle and builds to a hubbub by late afternoon. Today was just the opposite.
Promptly at 10:00 a.m., the door opened and in came three teenagers with a visitor, their grandmother. This family has been in the library since the first day we opened in 2006 and the kids know the place. The grandmother was coming to visit for the first time. She has been here from out of state for several weeks since the oldest son in the family had a near-fatal car accident and miraculously survived, but is still needing round-the-clock care at home. The 12 and 14-year-old boys immediately headed for their favorite sections to dig for new treasure, one for books on the Middle Ages: Knights in Armor, Everyday Life of an Irish Pilgrim, The Silver Branch; the other for a plentiful supply of World War II books: World War II GI, European Land Battles: 1939-43, Story of D Day, Story of the Battle of the Bulge, Story of the Battle for Iwo Jima, European Land Battles: 1944-45; and their older sister, who has been holding the family together while Mom, Dad, and oldest brother were living at the hospital for three weeks, is looking for something fun to read, as well as some books on snakes for the nine-year-old brother at home, and picture books for the little ones: The Water Hole, A Snake’s Body, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, A Snake-Lover’s Diary (A library FAVORITE), and Akin to Anne.
Emily scanned their books for check out and I packed them in their plastic tote. They went home to enjoy some quieter days.
Just as they were trooping out, a mother with her seven-year-old daughter entered. They are itching for spring, what can they read about living things, growing things, outdoors? How about Salamander Room, Miss Rumphius, Play With Leaves and Flowers, I Was Born in a Tree and Raised by Bees, Seven Ways to Collect Plants, and Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady.
Though this is a fairly typical slice of life in the library, Emily doesn’t usually have time to process books. This little flurry of activity today is followed by a long lull, in which Emily manages to get 121 new books cleaned, labeled, covered, and ready for the library shelves. She puts them in the sections where they belong because she knows the very child who will be delighted to discover certain new additions that are ready for their next visit.
Living Books Library is more than a place to find books – more than old and out-of-print great literature for children. It’s a place where the librarians know the families, share their heartaches and triumphs, have a relationship with them, and where, as the library grows, they grow with the families and their growing love of literature.
For the joy of reading,
Liz