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Phyllis R.D. Zanes - Why I Love My Library

Phyllis RD Zames

Thank you for the opportunity to enter this contest. Below please find my entry. Before I wrote my essay, I had not truly realized what a difference libraries have made in my life. Again, thanks for your consideration.

A sanctuary…a workplace…a safe, quiet, comforting, nurturing environment…a place to teach and learn and be responsible. Libraries have always been a part of my life. Library rules have always appealed to me: be respectful of others who are reading and speak quietly, borrow books that you think you’ll love and then bring them back so others can love them too, and take care of these books by enjoying food and drinks anywhere but in this library. When I was very small, my mother allowed me to choose my own picture books to borrow and take care of. I still feel a sense of peace when I recall the libraries of my childhood—sanctuaries where we whispered, absorbed information, smiled at our favorite characters. My mother or my father read to me, using fun voices and stimulating rhythms. James Stevenson’s books filled me with wonder and a little envy—how come stuff like that never happened to me? A magic day came when I was able to write my own name and get my very own card; that was the first time I felt truly grown up (even if I did hand it to my mom after checking out my books so it wouldn’t get lost).

In junior high school, I was the new girl for awhile, and before I made friends I spent each recess in the school library. I escaped the raucous, thick noise of the lunchroom as quickly as I could and felt protected by the shelves that surrounded me as I wandered up and down, searching for answers. I read about kids my age with louder, sharper, jazzier personalities than mine, and eventually I was able to come out of my shell. Instead of rushing off to the school library, I stayed sometimes—then more and more often—and connected with my peers.

In high school my mother helped me get a job at Soule Library, where I shelved books—I can still alphabetize anything quicker than you can!—and read and reread favorites. No one noticed if I quickly read a children’s non-fiction book on snakes before I put it away, and on my breaks I might skim some Anastasia Krupnik books by Lois Lowry (an elementary school favorite) if I needed some cheering up. Of course, I delved into the adult romance section, too, to confirm my suspicions that grownups consistently have more fun than kids do—complete with happy endings.

Cornell University has no fewer than nineteen libraries, but I spent most of my time as an undergraduate there in Uris and Mann Libraries. Of course I did a lot of research and studying there, but I absolutely loved visiting the stacks. The stacks! How could there be so many books? Once I found a book by a friend’s father, and it was so incredible. In an enormous world, I had found someone I knew! I realized that most books are written by people I don’t know, but look at this: they can be written by people I do know, too. In college I learned that everyone has a story to tell.

These days, going to the library is a Mommy and Me affair. I’m there to do what my parents did for me; teach my children to love reading and exploring the world through literature. If I even get to go into the adult section of the library—my two daughters prefer it when I sit in the child-size fire engine with them and read picture books—I have time to choose only one or two books. But I don’t have to check it all out in this one visit. I’ll be back soon enough, grateful for the experience of the books I’ve borrowed, and hungry for whatever comes next.

Each trip I’ve made to the library has inspired me. This lifelong journey through borrowed books has given me the confidence to begin my own literary life. Perhaps, one day, if I work hard enough and keep trying, I will bring my children to the library to check the shelf and see if a book is there—way at the end of the shelf, filed alphabetically, written by Phyllis R.D. Zames.

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