When I was a kid I thought our weekly trip to a white brick building in the middle of town that was filled with stories was insanely magical. Even as an adult, the concept of a library blows my mind. But as wonderfully revolutionary as that is, the magic of a library quadruples in power when I consider the group of people who work there.
Librarians are amazing.
My library obsession is pretty evident in my series, Between Lions, since the whole thing revolves around the descendants of the ancient Alexandrian Librarians… and people keep asking me why I decided to write about them.
Here is the reason:
No matter what a person is looking for, a librarian will do anything and everything to help you find it, without knowing why you need it. They just assume that if you ask, it’s important. They believe in the pursuit of knowledge and dedicate their lives to organizing and protecting information so that it is accessible to all. I also love that they won’t just give you an answer. Their job is to help you to navigate and translate the intricacies of the Dewey Decimal System to help you locate whatever treasures of knowledge you’re seeking.
Seriously think about that for a minute. Then, before you get as obsessed as I am, let’s all just agree that Librarians are one of the noblest professions.
Now I feel like celebrating them! So here is my idea to honor them all:
Let's share a favorite book(s) suggested to you by a Librarian!
In my experience, Librarians always know what you should read next. I have learned to save room in my book pile for their recommendations the way other people save room for dessert. As a child, my Librarians led me through their bookshelf labyrinths to Narnia, Green Gables, Edward Eager’s wishing well, Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tale Books (the titles were the Red Fairy Book, the Green Fairy Book, the Purple Fairy Book etc.… I 'd walked past, thinking a plain, single colored book couldn’t be interesting – gah!).
So here is my Librarian Love Story:
My children's Librarian overheard me talking to my mother about how much I loved the movie The Wizard of Oz, so she beckoned me over to a whole, amazing foot long section of stories about the Land of Oz. Dorothy was in there, of course, but there were many more marvelous creatures to meet in L. Frank Baum’s books… and I learned at eight years old that if you like a movie, you just might like the book (or books) even better. I will forever be grateful to her for that.
Thank you Librarians, everywhere, for all that you do.
So: What’s your favorite Librarian Recommended Book? Or a book you never would have found with the help of a Librarian?