To the editor:
At the end of January, the Caribou Public Library closed for a bit more than a week for some scheduled housekeeping. I had made sure to stock up on books. I was set, but around the third day of the closing, I just started to get twitchy.
The first day of reopening, I was there. The parking lot was jammed. The collective sigh of relief was palpable. Some people just love libraries. Many people use them and many more need them. I used to get cranky and overprotective when libraries started to change. You know, people able to access those nasty computers for school work, job searches, research and so on. Tutors working with students and nobody saying, “Shhhhh.” Parents playing games with children. Everyone looking for movies. Concerts going on downstairs. A display case overflowing with the joy of a child’s curiosity and enthusiasm. My people were there, as well, hunting for books, a quiet place to read, a comfortable chair in which to plot and finding all we wanted.
Our librarians do it all. They make a home for everyone and do it with such grace and intelligence. I have seen them stretched to their utmost. I think that what bothers them in those moments is not that they’re overextended but rather that they might be letting patrons down. They aren’t. They most certainly are not. I love libraries and I’m so grateful to the people who choose to embrace them. Thank you all.
