How could you reach this person?

When I was a child in 1950s Toronto I loved going to the library with my mother (starting at the age of 2). We learned about the dewy decimal system at school and every June the whole class was marched over to our local branch to take out 10 books for the summer. The library was part of our lives - a huge source of entertainment and information.

I know there have been huge changes since then - the internet, newcomers from many different cultures, television, etc. But I was surprised and saddened a couple of years ago when I had the following conversation with a cashier at a grocery store. She was young, had lived in Ottawa all her life so she had attended local schools. We somehow got talking about reading. She said she loved to read but could not afford to buy books as often as she would like. I said, why not try the library? She replied that she wasn't sure how much it would cost and didn't you have to be a member? Besides, she did not think a library would have the kind of books she liked. So I told her it was free and that you could get your card at any branch. I also told her about all the non-book materials that were available - helped in this by the person behind me in line. She was most interested, had not realized it was so easy, never heard a thing about the library at school and wondered if there would be a branch near her and would they have the sort of books she liked.

I was very surprised that she had not been taught about and taken to the library when she was at school. I would like to think that all schools would have some way of introducing children to the wonders of the library.