Libraries Transform Lives

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As a writer of fantasy novels for teens, I see myself in my readers—hungry for story, the most passionate readers in the world. I find them in libraries. The school libraries I visit are the nerve centers of the entire school—the place to come for information, for inspiration, for transformation.

Library use has skyrocketed in these perilous economic times. They are resource centers for self-education, for job hunting, and access to digital media. They provide continued access to books for families who can no longer afford to buy their own.

Public libraries are sanctuaries for teens at risk—a place to read, to study, an alternative to the siren song of the street. I asked a young boy in Cleveland why he liked fantasy novels. “I like to pretend I’m in that world,” he said.

Public libraries are heavily used by home schoolers, where book clubs support peer discussions. Last week, I met a teen writer in Texas who had no computer at home. We discussed how she could arrange to use a computer in the library to write and revise her stories.

When I teach writing workshops, I tell my students that reading good books is like taking a private workshop from a master. And they can do it for free—at the library.

But maybe not for much longer.

Libraries and librarians are under siege. State funding for libraries and library programming is being disproportionately savaged. Last year, lovers of libraries fought off a huge reduction in library funding in my home state of Ohio only to be faced with more devastating cuts this year.  In Austin, TX, budget shortfalls have caused the schools to propose eliminating all school librarians. Library funding has been slashed in the 2012 Federal budget now under debate.

This makes no sense to me. In a time of accelerating change, it is more important than ever to fuel transformation. Want a nimble, self-sufficient, proactive population? Support libraries.

I’ve been transforming myself all my life—and it began in a library. I was not a strong student in early elementary school. I was known as a daydreamer, a wool-gatherer—someone who always missed the critical homework assignment and the important teaching point. The stories in my head distracted me from life in the classroom.

My teachers wanted to hold me back in the first grade, and my mother talked them out of it, promising to work with me over the summer.

At home, we had shelves of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, and the pebbled green leatherette Funk & Wagnall’s Encyclopedias they gave away at the supermarket. But I had very few books of my own.  So my mother and I went to the library and brought home armloads of books, some for her, and some for me.

By third grade, I was a fluent reader. I read everything I could get my hands on—mostly books from the school and the public library. Pleasure reading is a powerful thing—it supports every subject area. The more I read, the better things went at school.

I began to write my own stories and poems. My teacher framed one of my poems and posted it at the science fair. It was one of the first bits of positive feedback I’d had at school.

Maybe I’ll be a writer, I thought. Maybe that’s something I’m good at.

I continued to haunt the library, and my grades continued to improve. I won the English award in ninth grade, became an honor student in high school and a first generation college student. In graduate school, I honed my research skills in libraries. As a clinician and researcher, medical librarians helped me craft searches to unearth the information I needed. 

As a college professor, I could always tell which of my students grew up with access to libraries and librarians. They knew how to research—how to access and evaluate information. Others didn’t have that advantage, and it showed. Teach people critical thinking, and they are set for life. They become lifelong independent learners.

I have transformed myself yet again. Now I make my living putting my daydreams on the page. As a novelist, I have a vested interest in literacy, but so does the nation at large. Times are tough, but balancing the budget on the backs of libraries would be a disastrous mistake.

Libraries are where you go when you need to transform yourself. They need to be there—now and in the future.

Cinda Williams Chima is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fantasy novels for young adults. She lives in Northeastern Ohio. Her newest series is the Seven Realms series – The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, and The Gray Wolf Throne.

http://www.cindachima.com/

Photo credit: Photo of Cinda Williams Chima was taken by Augusten Burroughs.