Guest blogger Mindy Klasky is the author of six fantasy novels, including the award-winning, best-selling The Glasswrights’ Apprentice and numerous short stories. Her latest novel, Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft, is a lighthearted, fictional tale featuring a love-struck D.C. librarian who discovers she’s a witch. A portion of proceeds from the sale of Girl’s Guide will benefit First Book.
This week is National Library Week, and I’ve spent a good part of the past couple of weeks working with my staff to plan exciting library-based activities for our patrons. I love the idea of celebrating and honoring libraries for one special week every April — and yet, it seems a bit odd to me. I have always loved libraries; they’ve been a central part of my life for as long as I can remember. They deserve more than one week a year in the spotlight.
When I was a child, my parents took me to the public library, and I checked out dozens of books at a time — picture books with few words, filled with magical landscapes and adventures.
As I grew older, I graduated to chapter books, and to the saddening realization that I could no longer warrant checking out a score of books — I could only read one a day, after all.
Still later in my library growth, I learned to research in a library, tackling the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature with a vengeance, discovering a previously undreamed of wealth of articles. (I also developed a crush on the high school senior who worked as a library clerk, retrieving magazines from the closed stacks in the back. Can I be blamed for researching my papers so
thoroughly?)
One year, between sixth and seventh grade, the public library was slated to be closed for the entire summer, as major renovations were completed. Some friends and I convinced our school librarian that we should be allowed to check out books from her library for the entire summer. Of course, it only made sense that she should waive the usual five-book limit. I still remember the heady excitement of choosing those books, retreating to my earliest library days as I dragged home dozens of volumes, staving off summer boredom. (I only finished about half of the books that I’d checked out — but I was a bit idealistic to think that I would make it through the collected works of Charles Dickens in one summer.)
As an adult, I stopped using the public library. I bought books, and I swapped them with friends.
And yet, when I realized that I was ready to stop practicing law, that I wanted a new career, I remembered the fulfilling energy of the library. I realized that I could combine my legal knowledge with my childhood love; I could be a law librarian, working in law firm libraries to train new users, conduct research, and harness all the print and electronic resources that have become the backbone of a modern library.
People often ask me if I regret leaving behind the life of a high-powered, large-law-firm litigator. I can honestly say that I have never once wished for my old life back. But I often consider retirement — and volunteer work at my local public library.
What a lovely story. I have allways loved the library as well. I am often now accused of spending too much time there by my peers who do not feel the need to do the same. I can’t help it if I know that Biology and Psychology books are on fifth floor, while fiction is on the fourth floor west. I also know where most of the hiding places are even if I don’t usually hole up in those places(I need a view while I read Uxtell or what not). I have been to the library 2 a.m., 2 p.m., midnight, and pretty much every other time under the sun, and as a result, I have seen its many faces. I’m not sure I would ever want to work in the library. For me, it acts as a haven, and I don’t want to bring work craziness into that. at thirtneen, all of the library staff wanted to hire even even though I was too young, and even though I never applied I still probably could have gotten the job at 16. I don’t know why, but I never wanted to work there. I knew some of the people my age, who did, and every one of them hated it. Maybe I was scared that working in the library would ruin it for me as well.
Perhaps your taste will change in the future! I, too, found libraries to be a haven, places of peacefulness and quiet. When I realized that I wanted to carry some of those emotions into my “day-job”, I realized that it was time to work in libraries!