"I am proud of what I am." "And what is that?" "I... am a librarian. "*

I love to read books. I honestly can't imagine one day where I would make the switch over to a Kindle, Nook, iPad, or other electronic reading implement. Now I know I said that at one point about the iPod, and now I have four of them, but that is besides the point. Books are not only for reading; (ideally) they have soft leather covers and aging paper pages just made for touching and smelling and writing yourself little notes in the margins. There is something wonderful about owning a first edition of a book you love or buying a book in a used bookstore that is over a hundred years old and thinking about the person who owned it before you.

That being said, I have a confession to make. I am afraid of libraries. I love the concept of the library, and, truth be told, I did like to go to the library in my hometown. Things changed once I got to college. I did spend *some* time in my college library (don't start laughing, college friends, I DID!), doing my reading for history in a comfy chair in a nook under the stairs. But I found the stacks intimidating. I got a little lost down there once and was reluctant to spend any more time in them than necessary. Skip to the Boston Public Library, which is just HUGE. I went there for a reading once, and I got a library card that day, but have I been back to use it? NOPE. (Read that last word with the "P" popped loudly.)

This is bad on me, especially since I have friends who are librarians or studying to be librarians. My aunt on the Cape was once a librarian. Rachel Weisz played an action librarian in The Mummy. Librarians are lovely people; they also love books. One of my goals this year is to go to the BPL downtown and go past the front room into the stacks. I just need someone to go with me the first time.

Here is a really funny PSA supporting libraries on YouTube, starring the Old Spice Guy.





*From The Mummy
Evelyn: Look, I... I may not be an explorer, or an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker, or a gunfighter, Mr. O'Connell, but I am proud of what I am.
Rick: And what is that?
Evelyn: I... am a librarian.