What Does My Public Library Mean To Me?
by Harrison Taylor Smith
age 13, Smyrna

A gateway, a doorway, a threshold, an entrance, a border, a door--you see them everywhere.  You go through a door and you are in a house or building.  Many people might only see a door, but I see more.   On one side of a door you have the outside (nature, the common world).  On the inside is the tone of the building.  There are many types of buildings, just like people-defined by what goes on the inside not necessarily they way they appear to the outside world.  I have walked through the door of the library many times.  I have seen the inside and seen what it is like.  I will admit I have taken it for granted.  My whole life, we have always had access to a library.  When I saw the flyer for the essay contest, it really made me think, “What does the library mean to me?” 

The more I thought about it, the more it did become clear--the library is a place to find knowledge.  It is a place where ideas run free.  The library is a place to discover new things--where your mind can “stretch its legs” and finally frolic in the open field that is reading.  The library is a place where everything written can be read and where knowledge runs free.   The library is a place of sanctuary and a place of peace.  At the library, you can gather your thoughts and get ideas.  The library is a meeting place where you can converse with others and learn together.  Doing your homework, writing a paper, discovering a new scientific theory, reading a Pulitzer Prize wining book--whatever it is, the library is the hub.  When you search the card catalog for a book, you really do not realize the power in your hands.  You literally have the power at your fingertips to discover practically anything.  You can discover anything from science and medicine to pure entertainment.  The library has almost every choice you can imagine.  The power of knowledge is always at your fingertips.

The library door is a threshold separating the common world from what it desperately needs--knowledge and wisdom.  If you walk through this door, you go from ordinary to extraordinary.  The library gives power to the weak and knowledge to those who desire it. It is a place where people can confer, discover, realize, imagine, and study.  It’s a place that makes you feel like anything is possible between the covers of all its books.  In the library, you are thrust into a world of adventure, or suspense, or romance, or history.  In this world, fiction and non-fiction happily co-exist.  Here, those seeking knowledge find joy, and those who love learning are fulfilled.

A library is probably the best idea in government.  The library is many things--a place of learning, peace, meeting, and power.  You can call it many things, but it’s called a library.  Try it; it’s bigger than you might think.

Return to Essay Contest page.