Libraries Change Lives

I was sitting reading my accumulated blog feeds. I have a couple hundred in my reading list. Any where from 50 - 100 posts appear each day. Some are just one line, like the Library Link of the Day, or Awful Library Books, or Will Unwound.

One hit me like a ton of bricks today. It was from Eric Hellman. I have said before that the name of his blog is great: Go to Hellman. Eric is the brains behind Unglue It. But this post was not about publishing or technology. It was about one of his experiences at ALA Midwinter. He called it Libraries Happen. I would have called it Libraries Change Lives. (The latter was an ALA Presidential theme a few years ago.)

The emotionally powerful part of the story begins this way: "I had the fortune to witness a 'library' happening in its purest, most human form."

I encourage you to read it (rather than reposting it here). The end line is the clincher:

Whatever stripes it wears or what name it answers to, the simple act of letting a book bring joy and wonderment to a little girl will define what a library must be, no more, no less.

Thank you, Eric.