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JANUARY 1, 2011
Happy New Year!
New Year's Day brought sunshine and showers to Monterey today. And the promise of another year of reading, learning and inspiring new readers and learners of all ages at the Monterey Public Library.
"A library is a hopeful thing" I thought as I visited the Gresham branch of the Multnomah County Library system in Oregon last week. I had the rare, and delightful, opportunity to visit this nearly new and well-used community place as a customer, a patron, a doting auntie with her two voracious reader nieces. How proud I was to see my sister's daughters know the place as though it were their own. They visited "their" shelves, carefully chose from old favorites and enticing new titles and then expertly swiped their cards and checked out via automated machines. I could see my sister and myself, as young eager readers in the last century, moving through a basement room with the confidence that familiarity and feeling welcome bring. My sister loved Curious George - "my monkey" as she called the books held in her toddler arms. And I found competence and courage in biographies of Florence Nightingale and Eleanor Roosevelt, and the lovely lilting language of Robert Frost and Edna Saint Vincent Millay. Libraries helped build the foundation for growing up, and into our rapidly changing selves. I know that still holds true. As do the hundreds of library customers who pour through our doors every open day. (And even wait outside on closed days, such as today, leaning against the wall with an open book, in rapt absorption, pages turning with an easy cadence. Ma'am - I'm so sorry today was a holiday - and I hope you'll visit again on Monday when we're open again.) And the many library donors who send gifts of $25 to $500 or more to help buy more books and materials, support summer reading programs and laptop computers, or just keep the library running and the doors open. We are more grateful than words can tell for your support! My heart lifts when I think of another year of reading, learning, and hope for our Monterey community. 162 years of library service - now that's something to look forward to in 2011. See you in the Library!
Categories: Director's Blog, In the Know |
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