Libraries have always been a place of safety and excitement for me. When I was a preschooler, my mom started taking me to our local library and letting me check out as many picture books as I wanted. She brought bags and a basket to hold them all. I remember the way the librarian opened all the front covers and lined them up to stamp them with the date stamp. I loved the "ka-ching" of the stamp as it went down to tell me when to bring the books back and get more. My love for reading, curiosity and creativity started in that library.
We could never have afforded to buy all the books I checked out--and that is what makes a library special and vital to the whole community. The library is a place for everyone, to explore, share, connect, learn and enjoy. At four years old, I marveled at the library's power to provide so many books to everyone, and I understood that we would all leave the library satisfied, excited to open books when we got home, and looki forward to the next trip.
People need libraries like we need to breathe. My daughter felt the same excitement I did when I started taking her during preschool. She quickly learned to read, with the help of all the library book access and her wonderful kinder and 1st grade teachers. My favorite memory is laughing together while reading Junie B Jones, which we checked out in stacks. She plowed through them at six years old, giggling the whole time. She loved reading about a spunky, smart girl just like her. She walked to school with her nose in a Junie B Jones library book every day that year.
As a working parent, I could never have afforded to buy all the books she checked out from the library, just like my mom when I was young. But we had the library. It is a precious resource of love and life, diversity and inclusion. The library must stay. Since the beginning of civilization, libraries all over the world have offered people a place of safety and excitement. We have created libraries on trucks, donkeys, boats, and people's backs.
Libraries and library workers nationwide are under attack in the national political landscape. It is hard for me to believe that so many of our vital social resources are at risk under this new presidential administration. But they are.
As a parent, educator, former child, and most importantly, a human being, I will always advocate for our individual and community rights. And right now, one thing I can do is advocate for libraries.
The library is in the fiber of our being. Access to books, stories, histories, multiple perspectives are all essential to our mental health. We must fight for its longevity and purpose in this world.
Do you love and appreciate libraries and public access to books?
Do you have a special story about the library's impact on you?
Visit the American Library Association to Speak Out for Libraries.
--Sharon Frances is an author and illustrator of books for children, teens and families. She is an educator and mental health advocate. Her forthcoming novel in verse, Ash and Feather, is available for PRE-ORDER now!
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