Why I support the Library

 Norma L. Duncan believes in the power of libraries to turn friends into doctors.  

 The first thing that comes to my mind about a Library is how it served as a resource for the added education that eventually led to my friend becoming a doctor.  And the wonderful childhood memories I have of our time together there.

As a teenager my running friend had an incredible thirst for reading -- she always had her nose in a book reading and could not get enough of it.  Her enthusiasm sparked my own lifelong love of reading as well.  We shared a love for romance, but while my other literary tastes ran toward mystery, she was reading up on science.  We also shared something else in common:  our families could not afford to buy us books, so if we wanted to read anything outside of what we got in school, we were told to walk to the Library. 

Every Saturday morning we would walk for about an hour (which tells you how far we walked).  Distance didn’t seem to matter to us as we knew the rewards were worth it.  I remember the quiet nature of the library, and that overwhelming feeling of history, knowledge, fantasy at your finger tips.  I remember thinking what a great place to relax and focus on what I want to read. 

We would spend a few hours roaming around the facility, looking first for books to check out, and then we enjoyed just lounging comfortably, reading and escaping into the fantasy of whatever we were reading -- after all, this was a field trip for us, and we had to rest before the long walk back home!

Libraries exist because they are the portals into any dimension for anyone at any level of education or knowledge ability, whether it’s for pleasure, work or school.  The portal options include book clubs, poetry clubs, music and online research.  Libraries today are much more than just books for the community – they are a great way for anyone to take advantage of opportunities to explore any topic of interest for lifelong learning.  Our entire community benefits from the library.