Becky Says...

October 2006

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Saints - October 4

Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. He's my very favorite saint, and for that reason I'm noting the day here. The link will give you some information about him.

I had reason today to think of public libraries. I was thinking specifically of the branch back in my hometown, across the street from my home, and of how much a second home it was to me.

The branch supervisor was one of my role models. She was a wonderful woman whose qualifications for the job were mainly that she loved people and she loved books. To my knowledge, she had no formal training except for in-service sessions. But that never got in the way.

The library was a wonderful, magical place filled with nearly all the books I could want, and provisions to get any it didn't have. If you needed reference materials to help you understand something, there were plenty. If you needed a book on a hobby, there were plenty.

But more than all of that, it was a place to come and be apart from the rest of the world. It was a quiet place, where respect for one's fellow beings was expected and given. It was a place of refuge for me in ways never spoken to my friend the supervisor, but probably known to her anyway.

Times have changed, of course, and my role model is long dead. But whenever I have a chance to visit, the good feelings remain.

I hope the next Beckys in the town are finding the place to be as much a second home as I did.

Text © copyright 2000-2006 Becky