A Love Letter to Libraries

 by Fran Hodgkins

This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking part in the Bath Book Bash, a celebration of children's books sponsored by the Patten Memorial Library in Bath, Maine. As I sat at my table (which was right next to Chris Mihaly!), I once again realized how much I love libraries and librarians.

As a kid, I spent hours and hours at our neighborhood library, reading my way through the picture books, novels, and nonfiction. I later went to work at that branch, as a teenage aide or "page."

If you haven't been to a library in a while, you're in for a treat. The whole stereotype of the shushing librarian is falling by the wayside. Libraries provide so much more than books -- computer access, classes, workshops, special-interest groups, story times, and interlibrary loan. My local library has recently introduced access to a streaming platform! What can your library and librarian do for you, as a writer?

First, of course, libraries are great for research. Wait, what? In this day of the internet, why go to a library? Because librarians are the original search engines. If you need to find a certain book, or facts, or even a story that you recall from many years ago, your librarian is the ideal resource. Trained librarians know how to find information and resources that we mere mortals, armed with Google or Bing, struggle to find. And they'll get you the good stuff, too: none of this inaccurate nonsense from "Joe's Big Website of Facts or Are They Opinions?" Librarians have noses like bloodhounds when it comes to accuracy. They also love a challenge. You need a book by an obscure author, which was published in Boston in 1914? On it. (One of my favorite library memes shows a book display of books that all have red covers, and the caption is "I don't remember the title, but it was red." -- even with that meager tidbit of info, your librarian will do their utmost to find that book.

Next, librarians love books. They read all the major review journals to decide what to order for this library. As a result, they can tell you what books are coming out that will be good comps for your manuscript. They can get you a book you need even if it's in California and you're in Massachusetts. They can also be your secret weapon -- because they are well versed in what books are available, they can tell you whether there's a topic that needs to be covered. That can give you ideas for new topics to research and write about.

Another reason to love libraries? They are a bulwark against the storm of book banning. They are our allies, making sure that the works we create get into the hands of the readers who need them. Books don't just inform, they connect us. They make us feel less alone in a world that can feel cold and uncaring. They open our eyes to the possibility of our future. How many kids, I wonder, decided on their career after reading a book? 

I can't say it was one book that influenced me to become a writer, but all of them that Mrs. McLaughlin handed to me over that giant oak circulation desk all those years ago. She's been gone for a long time, and that neighborhood library is gone, too. 

The places and faces have changed, but the librarians are still there, ready to help.  

Thank you all, librarians!

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