In the Library

Last Thursday night, during my volunteer duty at the Dennis Memorial Library,  the very heart of the village in which I live, something extraordinary happened. Well, something memorable on one level or another happens there regularly, but this, to me, was extraordinary and an event that I shall never forget. 

A set of young women have been showing up on a regular basis each Thursday evening. They pass by our front desk, smile and exchange pleasantries with us before retreating to a quiet room where they sit together at a table. At first, it was assumed that they were studying together, perhaps working on a mutual assignment or maybe one was tutoring the other. The possibilities also included an English as a Second Language meetup.  But, as the weeks progressed, my library duties allowed me to pass by that room and observe the two women who clearly were just having a good time, enjoying each others company, softly chatting and laughing. A tea party, minus the tea. I never asked, nor did my fellow volunteers. Our library welcomes such meetings. It's not always about the books. DML is so much more in our community.

So, on Thursday, one of the  two women came in alone. She stopped briefly at the desk on her way back to the quiet room, and said that her friend could not make it this evening. She remained until about twenty minutes before closing time when she emerged and came up to our desk with a question. "Is it possible to become a member?" A huge smile crossed her face and her big brown eyes lit up when I told her that yes, she certainly could join our library. I  nearly burst from joy as I invited her with, "Would you like a card right now? Fill out this form and you will have your own in a few minutes" Her questions, to those of us who were born clutching our own library cards as we emerged from the womb,  might have seemed  naive. But to her, each answer brought remarkable pleasure as her eyes grew brighter and brighter. While preparing her spanking new library card, she asked if this would allow her to take any book home, And then, she selected a book and used her own card for the very first time. Out came the little slip of paper which tells patrons when their book is due back and again, a moment of joy. "I can really keep it for a MONTH????" 

I'm not sure why these women meet at the library. There are a host of possibilities. Maybe they live in homes where the noise levels are bothersome. Maybe they are escaping a reality and finding comfort and safety from being surrounded by books and people who share their love of the written word. Libraries have become so much more than they were during my childhood when the expectation was the keeping of a silence from entrance to exit, the presentation of a card and the promise to return the borrowed book within the two week allowed time. Infractions were not tolerated and "overdue" books were met with fines upon return. Failure to pay the fine resulted in the loss of future dealings until paid in full. If nothing else, the system taught us respect for books and  a good dose of responsibility, nevermind respect for those who were using the library for research. With the advent of the internet, fewer and fewer people are willing to give up an evening of mindless network t.v. for an evening at their local. Need information, you get instant information. So, the modern library is so much more than a hushed environment that caters to the serious, the quiet, the introvert. As in the case of the two friends who visit on Thursday nights, the library is also the place of social discourse, a safe haven, a book-lined hangout. 

I probably will take some time this week, if we are again visited on Thursday evening, to get more acquainted with the new card holder. My curiosity is raised. It's my turn to get some information. It's also an opportunity for me to gloat, to be proud and happy for having been the one who started what I hope will be a lifelong love story. You see, I totally get it. I'm still in awe, and have been since my childhood, of the very fact that such places exist, that throughout time, they have endured and remained on the scene in thousands of communities. I still get a thrill each time I cross a library threshold and I am still in love with the idea that yes, I can take a book, or maybe an armful at a time of books, home. And, yes, I can keep them for a month, or maybe more if I need to. Any yes, all of this is free, available and open to me and to you and to every and any one who wants to read, learn, watch. listen or just hang out.