Working in a library during the pandemic has been hard, but not for reasons you might think. It was hard because we had to close to keep people safe and working with people is one of the most primary functions of a public library. What is a library with no patrons? The pandemic and our subsequent closure brought home to me in a new way how important the library's relationship to its communities are. The library is not just the books, not just the fun programming; the library is the people and the communities we serve. During Library Appreciation week, I wanted to highlight a few books that explore this relationship and demonstrate how necessary libraries are for healthy communities.

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson is a heartfelt love letter to the old libraries that may appear sad on the outside (and therefore deserving of funding cuts) but harbor a wealth of community inside. Each character in the novel uses the library in different ways for different reasons, but they all come together to save their little haven.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams explores the ways in which a love of reading transcends hardship, age, and loss. This love of reading forges a connection between a lonely widower and his bookworm granddaughter through a secret reading list passed along by a young library worker with her own share of troubles. Together, they read through the list and find their own little community.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson paints a stark picture of the importance of library services to small, isolated, and desperately poor communities in the hills of Kentucky in the years between the wars. A fictional novel based on historical accounts of the Library Pack Horse Initiative implemented by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the book also highlights the freedom and independence being a packhorse librarian gave to the women who rode into the hills, even as they took great risks in doing so. The sequel, The Book Woman's Daughter comes out May 3rd 2022.

Syria's Secret Library by Mike Thomson details the incredible story of the Syrians who fought to salvage books during the siege of Darayya early in the Syrian civil war in order to create a secret underground library that offers those who remained a refuge and haven from the war above ground.

In Part of Our Lives: A People's History of The American Public Library by Wayne A. Wiegland, it is the people who use the library, instead of library professionals, who tell us about the value of public libraries. They talk about the importance of reading, of having free access to knowledge and materials, and the spaces libraries provide as being essential to the social fabric of American lives.

For a list of these titles and others about libraries (and bookstores) as essential community centers, click here.

     ~ Posted by Veronica H.