Why I Write, Why I Read, Who You Are to Me: A Letter to LibrariansRoss RitchellI daydreamed a lot as

Why I Write, Why I Read, Who You Are to Me: A Letter to LibrariansRoss RitchellI daydreamed a lot as a child. Still do as a man. I was the third of four children and second son of three, so I had to vie for household attention among my siblings and their many extracurricular activities. I must have found solace in leading the lives of others because it can be hard to find yourself in a busy home of others that naturally tend to define you. A family unit is a society of influence: we often come to know ourselves through our intimates’ perceptions of us, which is why younger siblings often attach themselves to their older brothers and sisters by a tag-along, metaphorical rope. The unspoken follower’s actions would likely say, “I don’t know myself well enough yet, so tell me who I am”. I never really thought about who I was in my own right because I was so used to being what the family made me: a younger brother for so long, and then finally an older brother, but never a stand-alone entity—I was always part of a whole.It makes sense to me that I took to reading at such an early age. I found myself in school and public libraries, towheaded and following a family member or classmate around the aisles of books, and to this day I can still remember how L. Frank Baum smelled in hardback, or the way my skin tingled when I held a history of World War II that was vastly beyond my reasoning and maturity level. I found out who I was, and who I wanted to be, in the aisles of libraries and the books that would pass my growing fingertips.So much of ourselves is defined by our birth circumstances  (location, birth-order, socio-economic factors) but to me, libraries were freedom. Libraries were a pat-on-the-head from a stranger’s hand and an encouraging voice from another time and country. Like the books I selected, I could be anything I wanted to be. And I have. I see my past interest in books and now I’m a writer; I see my adolescent interest in the military and I served in war as an Army Ranger.And behind all the bookshelves were heroes, professionals of passion. Every librarian I’ve ever known has looked me in the eye, regardless of my age, and seen a desire for something more. They’ve seen that desire and pointed their hand or walked me down the aisles to reach an unknown part of myself. And this is why libraries and librarians are of paramount importance to our society: they help us find who we’re meant to be when we often only see the reflections of ourselves in others. -- source link

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