Libraries Save Lives

I don’t know where my love of libraries started. My love of books started early. By the time I was 12, I was reading things way too inappropriate for a girl my age; King, VC Andrew’s, TeenBeat 😂 (Thats’s showing my age but it was 1987 🤷‍♀️) I was skipping school to hang out at the local library when I was in grade 8. My high school English teacher gifted me a book of poems graduating year and I studied English at Carleton. So, I’ve always loved books and their many houses. When I moved to Barrhaven 19 years ago, I sought out my local library right away. Ruth E Dickinson became my second home. For almost two decades I’ve been coming here. I’ve raised my boys amongst these stacks. I’ve taken courses online inside your silence. I’ve been through hell and back while researching mental health in those comfy chairs. Your walls have seen me at my best and my worst. Your librarians have shown me kindness when they didn’t even know they were saving a life. It’s not just the books and the building. I am forever grateful for what this library has given me. A warm place to find refuge. Knowledge and comfort in dark times and in good. Thank you for what you provide. I wish more people knew your comfort. Could heal a lot of wounds.