Being a librarian is not about sharing the love of reading.
It is about sharing the love of just loving books. If you can just make one more person feel that sensation, to acknowledge that reading and the path it takes you on is all consuming - you have fulfilled your role in life.
I may have been a lousy librarian. But I never was a lousy reader.
One of my lifelong favourite libraries is the one in the town near where I grew up in Hudson, NY. It was an older building, originally an orphanage I think. It had the requisite (like NYPL) lions beside the front steps and a number of cozy rooms where you could curl up in a corner and read things like poetry that your age mates felt were boring. As a budding bibliophile, I loved it. It helped that my mom volunteered there and often brought books home for me to read and review for her. The library has since moved to a larger location - necessary for the bustling place that it is in that small city.
I read Susan Orlean's The Library Book with my book club this spring: we all loved it. I did in particular because I have unintentionally committed libricide (the killing of a book) three times now. On all three occasions, the fatality has resulted from immersion in water, rather than incineration from fire.
My favourite libraries in the world are (so far): The Metro Toronto Reference Library, (Toronto, Ontario)n which you climb up ramps like in the Guggenheim Museum to ascend in the building, and The Millennium Library, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I was left in peace by library staff to write out ten postcards to friends and family around the globe about my trip to the NASFiC Science Fiction Convention this past July. Then they came over at 4:55 pm to say nicely: "The library is closing at five o'clock, can you please get ready to leave the library?" So I packed up my postcards and my tote bag and graciously left. But I'll be back.
I visited the new library in Carmel, Indiana two weeks ago. It is well laid out, spacious with a huge lobby and a sweeping staircase. The staff ran forth like frolicking lambs to greet me and were still friendly when I told them I was visiting from the UK. It has a second-hand bookstore, a marvellous 3-d printing section and a great coffee shop.
It gave me hope for the future of our civilisation.
my most favorite library was the one i would wait for my Mom to complete her shift at one of the zillion jobs she worked to support us (7 kids, i'm the baby). she worked at joske's and across from it was the Las Palmas branch of the san antonio library. all the librarians were amazing and supportive! it may have been small, but to me, it was a castle! to this day, i'm a lifelong reader, so is my daughter and my grandson.
I’m completely in love with this post because a) The Library Book is one of my favorite books of all time b) I’m a Nebraskan so the shoutout to a Willa Cather book is a bonus and c) I also started visiting libraries everywhere after reading it. I just got to visit the LA Central Library for the first time two weeks ago and it is amazing. Thank you for the post! New subscriber 😍
My favorite was the LA library when I went to it in 1973. It had a display of Jules Verne's memorabilia from the movie 2000 leagues under the sea. I was able to find and check out actual news paper clippings of the Hindenburg Disaster of which my mother visited as a child the day after. The 2000 leagues under the sea exhibit was the most steam punked art I've ever witnessed in one place. People you may want to read but I found the most eye popping art full place to be the LA Library. Diragables, Submarines, Diving suits, LA Library had it all in 1973.
This article is so lovely but it made me sad too. They’re tearing out a lot of book shelving in the children’s section of my library to put in a slide and other playground area interactive equipment. It feels like a desecration to me.
Biblioteca Vasconcelos, largest in Mexico
https://www.kalach.com/biblioteca-de-mexico
https://mxcity.mx/2021/11/el-jardin-surrealista-en-la-b-vasconcelos-para-hacer-picnics/
Love 'Little Free Libraries' too..
Wow, loved this piece so much!
Being a librarian is not about sharing the love of reading.
It is about sharing the love of just loving books. If you can just make one more person feel that sensation, to acknowledge that reading and the path it takes you on is all consuming - you have fulfilled your role in life.
I may have been a lousy librarian. But I never was a lousy reader.
One of my lifelong favourite libraries is the one in the town near where I grew up in Hudson, NY. It was an older building, originally an orphanage I think. It had the requisite (like NYPL) lions beside the front steps and a number of cozy rooms where you could curl up in a corner and read things like poetry that your age mates felt were boring. As a budding bibliophile, I loved it. It helped that my mom volunteered there and often brought books home for me to read and review for her. The library has since moved to a larger location - necessary for the bustling place that it is in that small city.
I read Susan Orlean's The Library Book with my book club this spring: we all loved it. I did in particular because I have unintentionally committed libricide (the killing of a book) three times now. On all three occasions, the fatality has resulted from immersion in water, rather than incineration from fire.
My favourite libraries in the world are (so far): The Metro Toronto Reference Library, (Toronto, Ontario)n which you climb up ramps like in the Guggenheim Museum to ascend in the building, and The Millennium Library, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I was left in peace by library staff to write out ten postcards to friends and family around the globe about my trip to the NASFiC Science Fiction Convention this past July. Then they came over at 4:55 pm to say nicely: "The library is closing at five o'clock, can you please get ready to leave the library?" So I packed up my postcards and my tote bag and graciously left. But I'll be back.
Wonderful post. Thank you for writing this, and thank you to Substack for bringing me here.
"Bibliosmiles": I'm keeping that one!
I visited the new library in Carmel, Indiana two weeks ago. It is well laid out, spacious with a huge lobby and a sweeping staircase. The staff ran forth like frolicking lambs to greet me and were still friendly when I told them I was visiting from the UK. It has a second-hand bookstore, a marvellous 3-d printing section and a great coffee shop.
It gave me hope for the future of our civilisation.
my most favorite library was the one i would wait for my Mom to complete her shift at one of the zillion jobs she worked to support us (7 kids, i'm the baby). she worked at joske's and across from it was the Las Palmas branch of the san antonio library. all the librarians were amazing and supportive! it may have been small, but to me, it was a castle! to this day, i'm a lifelong reader, so is my daughter and my grandson.
I’m completely in love with this post because a) The Library Book is one of my favorite books of all time b) I’m a Nebraskan so the shoutout to a Willa Cather book is a bonus and c) I also started visiting libraries everywhere after reading it. I just got to visit the LA Central Library for the first time two weeks ago and it is amazing. Thank you for the post! New subscriber 😍
park city library 📕❤️
Lake Forest (Public) Library, Lake Forest IL-the BEST Children's Library in the country-maybe the world!
My favorite was the LA library when I went to it in 1973. It had a display of Jules Verne's memorabilia from the movie 2000 leagues under the sea. I was able to find and check out actual news paper clippings of the Hindenburg Disaster of which my mother visited as a child the day after. The 2000 leagues under the sea exhibit was the most steam punked art I've ever witnessed in one place. People you may want to read but I found the most eye popping art full place to be the LA Library. Diragables, Submarines, Diving suits, LA Library had it all in 1973.
Althea Warren deserves high praise - but the title that led me here, '..., the greatest librarian,...', overlooks Daniel Boorstin.
This article is so lovely but it made me sad too. They’re tearing out a lot of book shelving in the children’s section of my library to put in a slide and other playground area interactive equipment. It feels like a desecration to me.
Wow, that odor wheel is fascinating. Loved this piece!