Seeing as the Michigan Library Association (MLA) just held its annual Library Advocacy Day on April 30, I wanted to take a moment to highlight how impactful libraries have been in my own life. This year’s MLA theme was “libraries light the way,” and that couldn’t be more true for so many that turn to them for information, materials, and their multitude of services.
My family and I have been utilizing public libraries and its many resources available since I can remember. Growing up in a rural area on the Big Island of Hawaii, the library was a go-to place for me and my siblings to check out books, use computers for free, and to just have a safe place to read anytime of the day. The local school librarian when I was an elementary student was a good friend of the family, so I loved visiting and looking at books with her whenever I had time, during and after school. Until middle school, I’d tell people I wanted to be a librarian when I grew up because of the positive influence she (and all those children’s books I checked out) had on me and the way I read books.
The library became a special place and memory early in my childhood. Not only do I remember the excitement of getting my first library card as a kindergartner, but I remember the joy it brought me and my fellow Girl Scout troop when we had the unique experience of being able to sleep overnight at our school library. It must have been around second grade because I distinctly recall being so happy to be considered one the Girl Scout brownies. We did a number of hands-on activities/arts and crafts, but the storytelling time led by our librarian was my favorite part of the sleepover. We also watched different movies from the library’s extensive videotape collection and did a scavenger hunt. For a second grader that loved reading, staying the night in a building full of books was the equivalent of a kid being in a candy shop.
