Love Your Library Essay by Kashika K.

We have received many wonderful and heartfelt responses to the Love Your Library campaign. Thank you! Throughout April we will be sharing weekly stories and quotes from patron submissions with you. Enjoy this lovely essay and watch for more coming this month.

Why I Love My Library by Kashika K.

“I love the Ramsey County Library. The library is an oasis where I can dive head-first into my favorite novel. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved the library. I loved the variety of books available, and all the characters in my books became my friends. And it was all because of Ramsey County Library.

When I was six, I moved here from India. All the way across the globe. I loved the vibrant colors and atmosphere here. Everything was so new. There was so much adventure. I loved my new home – nestled in the hills. But the place I felt most at home was in the library. It had its own special feel.

Every book’s binding called out to me – like it was meant for me. I loved how helpful the librarians were, they would direct me to new books, and old favorites. I would act out my books in the puppet show house. I would come there to spend hours reading Charlotte’s Web, and Where the Wild Things Are.

Then, once I grew older, I came to study. The library had such a relaxing feel. I would spend hours studying Science, English, or Math! On Sundays after brunch, my mom, my brother, and I would come to the library to relax. I would read or finish school assignments, my mom typing away on her laptop, writing emails. My brother would run around finding a 2 feet long stack of children’s books – the old classics – my childhoodfavorites. Sometimes when we had fines on books, we’d come to ‘Read It Down’, I love that feature, how we can pay off fines -just by reading!

When the pandemic hit, I was so sad that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my after brunch reading. When the restrictions softened, I picked up books and creative kits through the drive-through. I loved that there were staff to help us through zoom! I made some candles on the patio, and some beeswax wraps for the kitchen! My brother and I got gardening kits (they came with little gardening tools!) and we learned how to plant seeds, watered them daily, and enjoyed watching our little saplings grow into stunning plants and flowers! Still, every time we went to pick up a kit, I would miss sitting inside, by the tall glass windows, sunlight streaming in and twinkling on all the books so they glistened.

But soon enough the library opened again, and I was back! With masks, it wasn’t the same, but it was even more special. Even in the midst of tornado-like circumstances, the tornado couldn’t harm the books. The magic of the library was too strong. We all had to be six feet apart, but it was heartening that the books could stay together. They were exactly where they used to be, arranged in the same old Dewey Decimal system.

And every Sunday, the sun would again twinkle on the bindings of all the books. I could almost see it smiling as I looked up at it. It was as if it was also happy that my favorite place in the world was now open, once more.”

~ Kashika K.