I blame my love of books on my parents. If it weren’t for them, I’d have hours to dust behind my refrigerator and organize my socks. My parents read to me since birth. And it wasn’t just one bedtime story, I’m told. It was four or five. Momma tells me I memorized the words so she couldn’t leave anything out.
My parents met the insatiable desire for stories with trips to libraries, bookmobiles, and library book sales. It was a tag-team corruption, really. Yes, we had overflowing bookshelves at home, but I fondly remember stretching out on the floor in the children’s section, smelling binding glue and carpet cleaner, and reading through the mystery section. I remember the librarians of my childhood, men and women my parents made sure I knew by name. I remember my elementary school librarian asking if I was okay when I cried at the end of The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen, not Disney). I picked up the sad story when some might have thought I was “too young,” but my parents let me choose what I wanted from the shelves and librarians encouraged me, so libraries became places of possibilities and adventures. Everywhere I’ve lived, librarians affirmed that view.
Periodically over the next month, River City Fiction will honor the libraries and librarians that make us love books. These profiles will correspond with the 2010 I Love My Librarian Award nomination period, which ends September 20.
The I Love My Librarian Award lets library users recognize the contributions of public, school, college, community college, or university librarians. The nomination questionnaire asks how the nominees made library experiences positive, how they fostered love for reading, how they made a difference in the school or community, and how they improved the quality of life in their community. RCF will answer those questions about librarians in the Richmond metro area. I hope it will inspire you to nominate a librarian you love.
And I’ll also talk about the people, like our parents, who bring us into libraries.
Do you have a favorite library or librarian you’d like to see featured on River City Fiction? Do not be shy. Just leave the librarian’s name and library branch in the comments and I’ll do the rest.
Who made you love books?
River City Fiction 
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