By Rebecca B.
My story is one similar to so many working parents these days: my husband and I both work full-time while raising young children. Our parents, our children’s grandparents, live in other states. Since the beginning of storytelling on cave walls, we’ve used written communication to teach our children life lessons, and, now more than, ever we need the library to help busy parents continue the tradition of helping us raise well-informed kids. My children have learned about life’s most important events through library books with topics on death, sexuality and puberty, religious celebrations, and friendship. Many of these moments on learning have happened serendipitously. While picking out a cute book on mice, my daughter read about the “circle of life.” The discussion we had that evening about life and death was made possible because a librarian thoughtfully stocked the shelves with this book–you can’ t get that on Amazon. Serendipity has always been the magic of the library, but behind the magic is a well-trained librarian helping us make those connections. Without our libraries, parents would lose their last stronghold from the community in getting the help they need to raise an enlightened next generation.Air Jordan