The two towns I live between -- Kingsley and Fife Lake -- have new libraries.
Fife Lake's has been open for a couple years, but it still has that new-library feel to it. Kingsley's opened just this month. I cried the first time I went in.
A library is essential to a town, especially a small town 20 miles away from a bigger city. The libraries in both Fife Lake and Kingsley are more than just bookshelves. They're the heartbeat of these villages, with places to hold meetings, showcase local art, gather local history and hang out with friends.
When we moved to Kingsley almost 10 years ago, the library was in a storefront. A really little storefront. They made every effort to rotate the books, but my son soon began to feel he'd read everything, even before he left grade school. We started going to the main library in Traverse City. The main library in TC is, of course, gorgeous and huge and full of captivating things. It's also 20 miles from home.
When we walked into Kingsley's library the day after the grand opening, the librarians remembered my son -- and remembered what he liked to read.
We both checked out books that day. And ran into friends and pulled up a chair in front of the fireplace and, just for fun, got our hands stuck in the book-return slot.
The Fife Lake library has drawn our friends from TC out to visit, for a poetry reading or a book sale. It doesn't take long to feel at home, plop down in an easy chair and admire the view of the lake from the expansive porch.
Both libraries largely were built with money raised by the communities, which only underscores how valued libraries are to a town. The entire time we've lived in southern Grand Traverse County, there have been change jars at the grocery checkout, yard sales, garden walks and other fundraisers. Reading the donor names on the wall is like reading the local phone book.
My fantasy second career is to be a librarian, overflowing with information and introducing new generations to Laura Ingalls Wilder or "Harry Potter."
A good library is more than just the slick building that houses it, of course. The Bonnies and the Marys and all the librarians I grew up with, even the scary ones, can become fixtures in our lives, our communities. I have more than my fair share.
Jodee Taylor can be reached at jtaylor@record-eagle.com
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