I found my home among books at a young age. Before I could read, I spent my daycare days making up stories as I flipped through picture books and my afternoons devouring Reading Rainbow and Mr. Rogers. And when I was sent to my room for my sassy mouth, I filled my time-outs with reading.
If it weren’t for my elementary and middle school librarians, I would never have met classic characters like The Berenstain Bears, Peter and Fudge Hatcher, Junie B. Jones, Ramona Quimby, and Anastasia Krupnik. And as I grew up, the Sweet Valley Twins and the members of the Babysitter’s Club became my constant companions. Books have always brough me joy, but more than anything, books have helped me to identify myself. I have met characters that resemble my personality, and this mirror has empowered me by helping me understand myself and the world around me. And this is what drives me most as a librarian. Every person should see themselves in a book. We accept ourselves more easily when we experience other characters interacting with and accepting a character that looks like us. But we also accept others more easily when we read about characters who are very different from us. Books provide us a safe space to be challenged in our thinking that the world at large doesn't always provide. It's in this space where we get to think and get things wrong without judgment. It’s also in this space where we can travel to another country, experience culture, and meet personalities we wouldn’t otherwise. Books make this gigantic world much more accessible to us. And that’s why I’m a librarian. Because I want this world to be accessible to you. |