School Librarian Feeds Sharks

By Margot H. 

My 5th-grader loves her school librarian, Miss S., who is quirky in the best possible ways. We often see her around town, walking while reading a book. Her newly hatched chicks are always a big draw at Back-to-School-Night. And Miss S. has a special knack for helping each student find the perfect book.

Last week, my daughter came home from school excited to share a story involving the librarian and our beloved Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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High School Dropout to Lawyer: A Library Success Story

By Carol S.

This is my father’s story: He was a high school dropout. Although he loved to read, he didn’t like school, so he would frequently ditch class and hide out at the Detroit Public Library, devouring books until the truant officer found him and dragged him back to school. Eventually he dropped out of school altogether in order to work. (This was during the Great Depression, and his family necessarily valued employment over education.)

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Little Library, Big Life

By Marti P. 

We were on our own in the library! That is, we had no computers, no story time, no volunteer to help us. We were just let loose to find a book of interest. I attended a parochial school in a very small town. The library was about the size of a small kitchen, but it was heaven to me! At a very young age, my favorites were biographies – George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Helen Keller. Later on we had permission to walk a few blocks to the public library. What a joy!

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Happy 125th Birthday to the Osterhout Free Library

By Robert A. 

The Osterhout Free Library in my hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, celebrated its 125th birthday on January 29, 2014. The Osterhout is the first public library that I ever visited and memories of my experiences at this venerable institution are rich and plentiful.

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Creating Magic for an 8-Year-Old

By Jolie V.

Ms. Valentine, do you have a book on the Greek alphabet?

Why, yes. Yes I do.

It’s Camp Read a lot time, and I can hear children at the picnic table, their voices raised to that particular shrillness that usually means an argument is about to boil over. There’s activity over at the fishing pond, too – but I don’t have a line of direct sight to the lines to see if anyone is swinging them…ah, no swinging yet. But I have, I estimate, about forty seconds to help you find a book on the Greek alphabet. After that, who knows what will happen with the fishing lines and the picnic argument.

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