Libraries Are Awesome

The following post is part of a Seed Pod collaboration about libraries. Seed Pods are a SmallStack community project designed to help smaller publications lift each other up by publishing and cross-promoting around a common theme. We’re helping each other plant the seeds for growth!

Ask anyone who reads what they think about the library, and they’ll tell you how special a place it is. Many of us have known this since we first visited a library as children. What is it that makes them so special? Is it the smell of books? Is it the peace and quiet? Is it what they represent; knowledge, imagination, possibilities? The answer is all these things and more. I can’t tell you how much I loved exploring the shelves of our local public library as a child. I would be on the hunt for every book about monsters and mythology, devouring stories about bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. I would get lost for hours in picture encyclopedias on science and world history and space. I would disappear into Judy Blume and Bruce Coville stories. It was a happy place.

There was a time in my life where I fell out of the habit of visiting libraries. I was reading less because I was more concerned with the pursuits that come with being a young man. Booze, drugs, parties, and women consumed my waking hours. That last sentence makes me sound way cooler than I actually am. It wasn’t the glamorous life of a rockstar I was living, rather just that of a bored young man in the Midwest following his friends from one form of trouble to another because we didn’t think we had anything better to do with the money we were earning from low paying jobs. I’m glad to have come back around to it as I got a little older, a little wiser, and a little slower to recover from hangovers. I came back to reading and I came back to libraries after a long absence, but it still felt as magical as the first time I stepped foot into one. It was like I had never left. 

Nowadays, as a father, I’ve been able to show my daughters the magic of libraries and they are as infatuated as I ever was. We make a visit every two weeks and come away with a giant tote bag full of books. One of the things that makes me most proud is that both of my daughters are readers. Library day is a day we all enjoy and I take pride in knowing that my kids love going and getting new books to read. 

What are your two cents on why libraries are special places? I’d love to hear what you have to say. In the meantime, here are some quotes that I found about libraries for your reading pleasure.

“You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!” -Doctor Who

“The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.” —T.S. Eliot

“The health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.” —Carl Sagan

“I had found my religion: nothing seemed more important to me than a book. I saw the library as a temple.” —Jean-Paul Sartre

“Libraries do one thing that no other institution does and that’s provide access to all.” – LeVar Burton

“People were stupid, sometimes. They thought the Library was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was the simple fact that it was a library.” -Terry Pratchett

“Libraries are about freedom - freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication.” -Neil Gaiman

Want to see more posts from this Seed Pod or join in on the fun? Head over to our thread to learn more!