In today's world of smartphones, Twitter, Snapchat, and Netflix, it can be difficult to find time for a good book. I want you to imagine the first time you read your favorite book. What made you to pick it up? What did the cover look like? How did you feel when you finished it? Kate Canlis, Friends Vice President, tells her Library story and reminds us of those feelings of pure love and excitement for the diverse and free space that is OUR LIBRARY. Kate found treasure after treasure in her Library and continues to be a Library hero today.
"I love libraries. When I was a girl the library where I grew up was a fortress like building downtown, far from where we lived. But the bookmobile came every two weeks and it was glorious. My parents subscribed to the Readers Digest condensed books. Not much adventure there, but there was a whole new world in the bookmobile, and pretty much unsupervised. I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn when I was ten. I don’t know how much of it I understood but it was certainly more riveting than Nancy Drew, the standard gift book for girls of my age and generation.
I am sure I was that bookmobile’s most dedicated customer. I was there every time it arrived, except for a brief period when I was banned by my mother for excessive late fines. Some books were just too hard to return.
My love of libraries started with its access to books of all kinds, the freedom to browse at leisure and find a true treasure, and it was free. My allowance would have never covered all the things I wanted to read. But the modern library is so much more that the bookmobile, as glorious as that was. The library today is a community center, a place where ideas are shared, educational opportunities abound, and people with interests as diverse as genealogy and poetry can find kindred spirits with whom to interact. And all those wonderful books are just a bonus.
When I retired I looked for a volunteer opportunity project, and I found the library needed us. There are so many things to do and so many ways to help. The library needs your time, your interest, and whatever you can contribute. If I can give back some of the bounty that libraries have given to me, that will feel good.
And one more thing, but don’t tell the librarian. I remember wonderful old books which are sadly out of fashion. When I see one on the shelves I check it out so it stays in the collection and doesn’t get decommissioned.”
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