For me, it’s really quite simple. Library = Love.

I don’t remember her name, or exactly what grade I was in (I’m guessing first or second). We filed into the school library and sat on the carpet. She was kind and very beautiful. As she read aloud The Five Chinese Brothers, I became enraptured with her dramatic voice, the careful way she turned the pages, how she paused to show everyone the pictures. I couldn’t believe it! One brother could stretch himself as tall as he wanted. Another could swallow the sea, and another could hold his breath forever!

I thought about my one and only older brother. He couldn’t do any of these things. But it didn’t matter. Now I had this story, and who knew what else I could find in other books? If you lived in a book, you could do anything you wanted. 

The public library soon became my second home, and there I made fast friends with Laura Ingalls Wilder, Beverly Cleary, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Louisa May Alcott, Sydney Taylor, Maud Hart Lovelace, Armstrong Sperry, Lois Lenski, and Carolyn Haywood. This was how I fed myself, while my parents were working and my brother was off playing with his friends.

In high school, the library was a place to meet friends and work on research papers about cancer and reincarnation. In college, it was a quiet oasis away from the chaos of the dorm — a place of serious study and rejuvenating naps, while I tried to absorb Wordsworth, Joyce, and Shakespeare by osmosis.

While teaching high school English in London, I read Georgette Heyer regency romances and Roald Dahl in the Wimbledon public library. In the British Museum reading room, I swooned over the original manuscripts of writers I had only dreamed of back in Hawaii, and tried to hear the distant echoes of those who had also read there once — Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackery, and Charles Darwin. No matter what I was doing in my life, the library was there and I gravitated to it for knowledge, entertainment, sanctuary, and stimulation. It is, to me, the equivalent of safety, freedom, respect, and wonderment.

Today I live in the Washington, D.C., area, a place that probably has the greatest density of libraries in any geographical area of the United States. This includes not only school, public and university libraries, but museum, gallery and government holdings, libraries of private businesses, medical facilities, trade organizations, and on and on. And, of course, thirty miles from home is the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, housing millions of books, recordings, maps, and photographs. When I walk into this place, the beauty of the architecture takes my breath away, and my meager brain tries to comprehend the enormity of its significance — the thoughts of an entire civilization documented and accessible to the public.

And I love librarians, too. I can honestly say I’ve never met one I didn’t like, or who didn’t earnestly try to answer any question I posed, or who didn’t hesitate to help me in any way I asked, all the while displaying unending patience. I also love how librarians have broken their own stereotypes, of being grey-haired, quiet, bespectacled, mousey, and unmarried. Hooray for Sandar, the school librarian at Wimbledon Parkside, who wore crazy striped socks (unmatched), and ate tuna salad every day from a square tupperware container. Her unbounded enthusiasm convinced even the most reluctant of readers that she had just the book for them!

As I celebrate Library Lovers’ Month, I wish to pay special homage to my local public library system in Fairfax County, Virginia. Because of their wonderful interlibrary loan service, I was able to research my third book, Woman in the Moon. I requested obscure journal articles from Hawaiian periodicals published in the 1930’s, as well as rare books about Hawaiian mythology. All were procured within 2 weeks time, at no cost to me, from various libraries across the country.

I’ve also been a library volunteer, met with my writer’s group, and tutored for the Literacy Council in the library conference rooms. Our county system boasts approximately 5.2 million visits a year, with more than 11.3 million items loaned. It is a privilege I will never take for granted.

I’m guessing a lot of you love your libraries, too. Wondering how we can honor them this month? Visit this webpage or this one, for ideas about making tax deductible donations, volunteering, or promoting library services in your area. 

So, Happy Library Lovers’ Month! Embrace and enjoy.