By Laurie O.
My earliest memories are growing up in Clifton Park, NY and walking to the (old) Shenendehowa Free Library down the street from my house. My great aunt was the library assistant and she had such love for BOOKS! She inspired me to go there often to participate in community activities and bring books home to read.
By Forrest M. Both of my children received their first library card when they turned 2. They have always had books around them be they picture, graphic novel, cartoon, chapter or a work of literature. Now that they are older, they constantly max out the number of books they can check out (50 at a … Read more
By Vanessa M.
My parents were big believers in reading and its role in education – not just traditional education, but self-guided: the experiences, perspective, and communication advantages that come from being well-read. There were always stacks of books around the house. We took full advantage of our library – it would have been unaffordable to buy that many books each week.
My literary interests hopped around the world. At one point I was obsessed with the North Pole. Then Cambridge. Then India. The library always had books to take me where I wanted to go. We actually traveled as well, but many places I’ve only experienced through books. In college, I used medieval primary texts. I never would have had access to these outside of a library. It was simply amazing to smell, see, and feel a book that old.
By Joel B. Growing up my only access to a wide variety of information was the library. Book reports, speeches and studying for final exams happened at the library. It’s a place where you know the environment is curated for learning, focus and exploration. Now being a father of two children going through school I … Read more
By Leslie T. When I was a child, my family had a biweekly ritual: We would all go to the library, where we spent hours looking for books on every subject-from the mainstream to the obscure. When we got home, we would each spend the rest of the day reading, sharing ideas or just phrases … Read more
By Alison B. For me, few things come as close to that new box of crayons feeling as walking into a library, and feeling yourself surrounded by books: old, new, big, small; books to devour and books to cling fast to, to come back to again and again with delight. My hometown library was a … Read more
By Margaret B. When I was 5 years old, My Mother signed me up for a Library Card at the local branch of our Library system. At the time I though it was cool. It made me feel that I was part of a larger, older group of kids,…grade school kids. But I had no … Read more
By Debbie P. I loved “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” I read it over and over as a child, Checking it out from the public library, and when I was finished, I would check it out from my school library/bookmobile. Every Friday we would go to town, and while my mother was grocery shopping, I … Read more
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.)
Read moreHigh School Dropout to Lawyer: A Library Success Story
By Jadin K. Libraries have been an integral part of my life since high school.I worked in Special Collections in college, and then had a brief stint as a researcher for the NYS education department, researching materials for the English Regents Exam. Visiting a library is always like going on a scavenger hunt; you set … Read more