Books

Wow, I last wrote in July and promised it wouldn't be another six months.  So, stretching the months thin I'm making that goal, right?  

The first day my library branch is open during the week is Tuesday, so there are few days worth of books to move around when we get started.  First, the outside book drop needs to be wheeled inside so we can collect and redistribute to book carts and bins what people returned over the week-end.  Same for the inside drop and automated bins.  Then, our essential and friendly delivery drivers from the city bring over bins of "holds" from other branches, and around noon our Link+ delivery driver arrives and two more large carts are filled.

Turns out there is an inner circulation person inside this reference librarian!  While I will always bow to others with greater knowledge of the inner workings/programming of our catalog, I have found a surprising amount of satisfaction in seeing the variety of titles that pass through the hands and minds of our voracious readers.  I also feel a little spark of happiness when I see titles/authors I know and think about those books also being enjoyed by people in community.

Here in this book oasis/paradise, I can't help but feel sorry for readers in communities where the fearful are launching book bans with terrifying success.  School libraries, public libraries, most of them in small towns where that library may be the only resource for free access to books, are under fire under campaigns of profound ignorance, meant to promote ignorance.  Pen America has responded to the book ban in Missouri, see this article with the headline Missouri has banned nearly 300 books in at least 11 school districts since August, PEN America said today and— joined by over 20 authors and illustrators, including prize winners and best-sellers like Margaret Atwood, Art Spiegelman, Lois Lowry and others— called on school districts to immediately reverse the bans and return all books to library shelves.

So how are these students in these school districts supposed to develop their literacy and critical thinking skills when books deemed dangerous are simply pulled from the shelves?  How will they know how big the world really is/can be?  

So as usual, I advise using all possible means to get as many books into as many hands as possible.  Fund your libraries, fund your schools, buy books from independent bookstores.  As the holiday season approaches, plan to put new and interesting books in the toy drives.  Support Donors Choose and make gifts in honor of loved ones who also value reading.

Here's the thing:  kids love reading.  I've spent several happy years now directing readers to the books they want and seen first hand the book hugs, the families staggering out with piles of books up to their chins, the person asking if I can override the 100 book limit for "just one more" title.  I've seen kids draped over the library furniture with a book in hand and a pile more on the table next to them.  Being part of this book oasis is such a joy.  You really haven't seen joy until you've seen a kid wriggling with glee at getting the latest Dog Man book.  

I'm not going to go so far as to say that reading will solve large societal problems, but NOT having access to books that address social problems sure isn't either.  

So what is your Bookcharmer reading these days?  I just finished We Measure the Earth with our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama and it is one of those incredible books that lingers your mind.  I recently read Fabric by Victoria Finlay and you should get it for the textile mavens in your life, including yourself. 

Wishing you a happy season of winter holidays and as much reading as possible.

Your Bookcharmer