Tonight has been an eventful night. I am working at a library that I have worked at many, many times. I just love this library. It's the library I went to when we moved back to Utah from Idaho. The patrons here are just great.
Case in point...tonight a family came in and let's just say...they are the reason I became a librarian.
The father came up with his library card and said he wasn't sure it was still good. I looked it up and verified all the information and told him it was still active. He said he was excited because his family has not been coming to the library for a long time but they have decided that they need to. He wanted to sign up this three children and get a library card for his wife.
I helped them fill out the form and then showed them where to get their library cards. After they had all received their cards, they came back to the reference desk and asked me for help finding books. After asking a few questions, I figured out that the oldest boy, who was in junior high had to read classics as part of his English class this year. He asked me my opinion on a book and I told him it was okay, but that there were others on the list that were easier to read and more interesting. I showed him a few other books, then his dad asked me if I would highlight some books on his list for future assignments.
It was immensly gratifying to recommend books that I love (as I have read most of the books on his list) and talking to him about some of my favorites.
About 10 minutes later, the middle boy came up and asked me for a good book for him. I asked him what type of things he wanted to read about and we found him three books that he was really excited about.
5 minutes later, the youngest came up and asked me for a good book. I showed him Bark George by Jules Feiffer and he loved it.
After everything was done, this family had been at the library for over an hour and were excited to come back. I hope to see them the next time I work at this library. Helping people find what they need brings me so much joy. To see the "light" come into their eyes when they find something they like is even better.
I love my job and I am so grateful I took the leap of faith that I did to make a change in my life. It's one of the best decisions I have ever made and I don't think I will ever regret it.
I wish I had had a teacher or librarian who helped me find some books I really enjoyed when I was younger. I never found reading to be that fun because I never really enjoyed what we read in elementary school and junior high. I regret not having more determination to find something I liked, because I missed out on so many good books as a kid all those years I could have been reading! And now I feel like there isn't enough time in my life to read ALL the good books out there. ;)
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