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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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Winds of Change

By Cindy M.  I was a non traditional student returning to school for a master’s degree. I was confronted at every turn with the integration of technology into the education system. (High school math for me meant slide rules not calculators). One of my neighbors happened to be the head of the library at the … Read more

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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A Safe Place!

By Gerry G. My love the library isn’t just because I work in the industry. My great appreciation comes from when my son was middle school struggling with being bullied, he found safety in the library. The librarian befriended him. He found solace there where he could read and explore. His relationship with the librarian … Read more

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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