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‘Empathy Centers’: Chanel Miller on Libraries

I believe that books heala and books save.

Chanel Miller, author of Know My Name, joined library workers from across the country at the American Library Association's 2020 Midwinter Meeting, where she spoke about activism, literature, and her love of libraries, which she described as “places of unquestioned peace.”

In addition to sharing inspiring remarks with attendees, she also created a comic about her hometown public library and the power of librarians just for the occasion.

Read on to see Chanel's illustated ode to libraries:

Welcome fellow bookworms. I loved libraries growing up! I remember seeing the librarian slipping the index card out of the back pocket of the book, pressing the stamp with the little numbers into the ink pad and stamping the due date. Old people will remember these times.
I loved libraries growing up! I remember seeing the librarian slipping the index card out of the back pocket of the book, pressing the stamp with the little numbers into the ink pad and stamping the due date. Old people will remember these times.
I loved the agency and adulthood that came with owning my own library card. A young Chanel Miller puts her card on the desk and says, ring it up on my card; my car is waiting.
But most of all, I loved the window at the end of the cookbook aisle. A yellow window sits between two bookshelves.
The window that looked out on the boys little league baseball team. Through the window, four boys play baseball.
I had this fantasy that one day on of the boys would look over and say...'who is that beautiful girl reading in the window? A boy in a baseball uniform looks over to see young Chanel sitting with a book in the library.
I imagine he'd be so in love he'd be too distracted to play until his friends would sit him down and say, 'your heart's not in the game anymore. You know where your heart is & you must follow it! The boy continues to gaze at Chanel through the window, then sits sadly while two other baseball players attempt to reason with him.
But that never happened. Probably because I was only 10. Chanel walks along with a thought bubble depicting her and a baseball player dressed as bride and groom.
Still, the library remained my sanctuary. Other appropriate names for 'library' would be 'empathy center,' 'brain feeder,' 'heart shelter.'
I believe that books heal & books save. Which means I've always known librarians to be the healers and savers.
Librarians are the leaders. The community builders. The welcomers, to people of all backgrounds. They keep our minds ripe and help us find what we need. They make the vulnerable feel safe and the young ones feel wise. Three librarians wear golden crowns. And I know librarians have a reputation for keeping things quiet & peaceful......Librarians at a desk and behind a bookshelf say "shhh." But I secretly hope that when the kids go home, and the doors are locked up...Walking feet and a padlock are shown. You all are secretly wild and crazy. Librarians dance and hold drinks under a disco ball in the library. And if you're not partying, you should be—knowing that the world has been made kinder, safer, and brighter because of the work that you do. Thank you. The end. Young Chanel holds up a book at the library.
And I know librarians have a reputation for keeping things quiet & peaceful......Librarians at a desk and behind a bookshelf say "shhh."
But I secretly hope that when the kids go home, and the doors are locked up...Walking feet and a padlock are shown.
You all are secretly wild and crazy. Librarians dance and hold drinks under a disco ball in the library.
And if you're not partying, you should be—knowing that the world has been made kinder, safer, and brighter because of the work that you do. Thank you.
The end. Young Chanel holds up a book at the library.
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