On National Library Week & Changing Lives
It would be difficult not to be inspired by the great author and lover of libraries Neil Gaiman’s 2013 lecture for the UK Reading Agency titled, “Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading, and Daydreaming.” Anyone that has read anything in support of libraries could have stumbled upon Mr. Gaiman sharing about the value of libraries and the difference they have made in his life – and this librarian would say, “Rightly so.” It should come as no surprise that Gaiman has been quoted as saying about National Library Week, “You should be especially nice to a librarian today, or tomorrow. Sometime this week, anyway. Probably the librarians would like tea. Or chocolates. Or a reliable source of funding.” Of course, I would add being nice to library staff members, student workers, government officials that support library funding, and friends of the library to that list. I don’t tell you this to suggest that the reference desk (or the circulation desk or the technica...