An Apology for Libraries
The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.
-Albert Einstein
To set the record straight, I am not saying sorry on libraries’ behalf. Rather, I’m using this term in the more old school, philosophical definition.
I have a deep-rooted love of libraries. You enter its doors, and it feels to be everything that’s ideal about modern society. The quietness hits you like that first warm spring zephyr, and you are immediately enveloped in a sea of knowledge incarnate. I wander the shelves and my imagination runs wild, as if I am in a terminal of possible adventures. And the librarians? I’m pretty sure they are the most underrated, knowledgeable people of modern society. If you ask their advice, they always have a recommendation.
“Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.”
As an author, I have a special place in my heart for libraries. It’s almost like a Little League star standing in a Major League Stadium, or young violinist standing in a concert hall. There’s this voice that says, “Hopefully one day you’ll join these ranks.” Every one of the books had an author behind them, conceptualizing, drafting, revising, pleading for honest feedback, querying, hoping, picking themselves up after rejection, trying again, then finally getting a yes.
Here are my top five libraries, in chronological order, since it’s impossible to rank them in any other way. They are not listed based on number of volumes, or rarity of special collections or community programs, or historical or architectural significance, but on meaningfulness to me:
New Berlin Public Library (Old) - New Berlin, WI
This is the first library I remember, and it was one that my siblings and I would ride our bikes to when the weather allowed it. It’s where I first remember developing a love of libraries. When I was a senior in high school, a newer library farther away replaced it.
Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library – Provo, UT
This was the library of my undergraduate education, a library you could literally lose yourself in. At the time I was there, Princeton Review ranked it the number one university library in the country. You’d enter through a Louvre-esque glass atrium, and have five levels of knowledge to choose from, from the first floor special collections vault, to the second floor skylighted periodicals section, to the fifth floor classic literature section. (You’d enter on the third floor and I can’t remember anything about the fourth floor). This was where I spent much of my time not only writing countless essays, as well as teaching myself Calculus 3 in one afternoon so I wouldn’t fail the class (different story for a different day), but also writing the first novel that I would publish.
New Berlin Public Library (Current) - New Berlin, WI
I graduated with an English Literature degree at the height of the Great Recession, driving me to come back home. I was dejected at my failure to find a job, and my failure to launch, working briefly at a sandwich shop for $2/hour less than my campus job. My mom told me to make the best of the situation, so I did what I knew best – I wrote another book. My first book, Forth From Eden, had been published just before graduation, but it was only half the story. I wrote the majority of my second book, Pursuing the Sun, in this building. There were couches on the top level at the back, that looked out on wetlands, and the natural setting was the perfect backdrop for summoning my muse.
Raynor Memorial Library - Milwaukee, WI
One of the most important phone calls of my life was when my now wife called me up and said (and I paraphrase), “Hey, it was great getting to know you the other day. Listen, I was thinking that since I have a lot of studying to do, and you are working on your writing, we could go to the Marquette Library together.” She was beautiful and wonderful to talk to, so I was thrilled at the invitation. We sat in silence working, content to be industrious in each other’s company. She was the reason I did not return to BYU for graduate studies. I enrolled at Marquette instead and began classes two days after getting engaged. We took our engagement photos in and around this library, and I would spend the next three years here doing my Master’s work.
Frank L. Weyenberg Library - Mequon, WI
This is my current library, the one I have been bringing my kids to now that they are old enough to appreciate libraries. I am thrilled at how much they love coming to it, whether it’s checking out the books, looking at the video games, playing with the toys in the toddler section, or going to Lego Night in the community room, and I hope this will become to them as the old New Berlin library was to me. This library does a fantastic job of bringing in the community, as I’m sure many community libraries do. I feel a sort of civic sacredness as I walk its shelves, searching for my next adventure, as well as watch as my oldest approaches the librarian of his own volition and asks her to direct him to the Dragon Masters series.
“I have found the most valuable thing in my wallet is my library card.”
If you haven’t been in a library lately, put down the phone, put down the Kindle, and go. Remember, it’s all FREE! If you had any sort of experience similar to my childhood, the timelessness of its walls of shelves will calm your soul.
