The Library Edition

Issue 11 - June.2021

Jun 11, 2021

The Short Story by Ava Love Hanna — This week we’re wandering the stacks and talking about how libraries are amazing, why you should know a librarian or two, and how lions are better than buffalo.

The Library Edition of The Short Story by Ava Love Hanna

This week, I’m thinking about libraries and how amazing they are. I established in The Bookish Edition that I’m a big ol’ book-loving nerd, so I’m sure my love of libraries is no surprise — but dudes, libraries are a place that let you walk in, touch books, and take them home for FREE. In fact, they encourage it.

Also, during the pandemic when everything came to an abrupt halt, do you know what I discovered that I missed the most? Libraries. I made my first trip back to the newly reopened Austin Public Library last week and it felt like… home.

Ava visiting the library in person and looking a lot like Belle in Beauty and the Beast — This is an actual photograph of me in the Austin Public Library last week.

So, let’s grab our library cards, put on our reading glasses, and get lost in the stacks for this edition.

In the Stacks

Waiting for the libraries to reopen while we endured the worst of the pandemic in the U.S. took so much PATIENCE and FORTITUDE.

Patience and Fortitude in front of the NYPL — Patience and Fortitude — the lions in front of the NYPL — turned 110 this year.

That was a completely flawless segue, I know. I really wanted a reason to talk about the iconic lions in front of the New York Public Library because they make me happy — almost as happy as actually going to the library. Fun fact: Teddy Roosevelt didn’t like them and thought they should be buffalo. More fun fact: lions rule.

I’m not the only one who feels this way. A study done by the UK’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport found that “… a significant association was found between frequent library use and reported wellbeing.”

I pickup books like you pick up beers. Then, you have a serious reading problem.

Special Collection

If you’re looking for a reason to spend more time in your local library, I highly recommend reading this illustrated essay by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell on the importance of libraries.

Gaiman eloquently explains, “Libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education, about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information.”

My favorite librarian, Mr. Ambrose, reminds us that libraries are more than books. Libraries and librarians offer more than just access to books — they offer access to information.

What did people do before they could just Google every weird thought that popped into their heads? “The New York Public Library recently came upon a box of questions posed to the library from the 1940s to the '80s — a time capsule from an era when humans consulted other humans for answers to their daily questions and conundrums.”

Reference Desk

Libraries are also vital “third places.” These are places that aren’t our homes or workplaces, but offer members of a community a neutral environment where all are welcome.

Readers couldn't visit Austin Public Library branches for most of 2020, but the system's Libby app saw an explosion in books borrowed. — The stunning Central Branch of the Austin Public Library

I love to visit libraries when I travel. As third places, libraries offer an authentic glimpse into the community you’re visiting and help you feel like a part of it. Austin Kleon has a fantastic post about his own experiences with “library tourism.”

Okay, I have a million more things I want to say about libraries, but this newsletter could quickly contain more items than the Library of Congress, so I’ll end with this: libraries are good for our brains, our communities, and society as a whole, and I LOVE THEM.