I have never been to England to the Dales or Oxford or other parts of that sometimes lush and sometimes forbidding countryside… except in books by Peter Robinson, Colin Dexter, P.D. James.
I have never been to either of the countries my Grandparents left to come to this country, Sweden and Ireland… except in books by Henning Mankell, Roddy Doyle, Batholomew Gill, the McCourts.
I don’t know how it felt to be an African-American growing up in Southern Louisiana or Los Angeles… except in books by Walter Mosely, Ernest J. Gaines and Bebe Campbell.
I wasn’t around during historically significant times like the Civil War and Roaring Twenties. Bruce Catton, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others have filled me in.
There are many, many other things I don’t know, but I know where to go when I want to find out. There is a library a few blocks from where I live and my wife and I walk to it almost every day.
The library… a place where everybody knows my name. And, it’s full of books. Books. That’s what the library brings to my life. One of the few pleasures in the world that have never been found to cause any disease, obscure or common.
At the library there are: books, magazines and newspapers to read, videos and DVDs to watch, CDs, and books on tape to hear, lectures and events to attend, computers to help you search for whatever you are looking for.
There are knowledgeable and friendly people working there who will help you with any question you might have. They are patient and kind, and no question seems to silly or difficult for them.
How much does all this cost? Not a penny. It is free. Yes, free, in a world where the most frequently asked question is—how much? Where those in the know’s favorite aphorism is—There’s no free lunch.
Every day at the library you will find an “all you can learn” free lunch.
Now someplace out there is someone who will say that the library is not free, our taxes support it. To quote another phrase, this one made famous by Henny Youngman, “compared to what?”
- The billion dollars and counting spent on new sports stadia?
- The mortgage with several years to run on the hole in the ground once known as Riverfront Stadium?
- Lawyers for sexually active politicians?
The library is an example of the wise use of tax money. It is one of the few places where supporters of both parties can read books reinforcing either view of this country, its past, present and future. There is no charge for borrowing either kind.
It’s free.
