The Local Library: Your Community's Unsung Gem

Welcome to Canada!

I’d like to introduce you to an often-unsung magical gem of a place found in most Canadian communities: the local library.   

Four years ago, my little family packed up our things and moved from the growing city of Guelph Ontario to Arnprior, a small Eastern-Ontario community in the Ottawa Valley. As a pregnant and full-time parent of an inquisitive, energetic and adventurous toddler with limited access to transportation, I was delighted to discover our local library was less than a kilometer’s distance from our home. ‘Adventures’ with Sophie often involved a walk from our home (perhaps more of a waddle for me and my growing belly), through our friendly neighbourhood, across the bridge that spans the dam on the Madawaska River to the local library right on the edge of the down-town core. At age two, Sophie quickly figured out how to operate the kids’ touch-screen computers, the wonderful feeling of returning home with a big pile of books to share and the joy of independence that comes with having your very own library card. Also, I rediscovered my own love of children’s literature.  

The library soon became our favourite hang-out and it wasn’t long before two-year-old Sophie was on a first-name basis with a number of the librarians.   

When Asher was born, a month early and in a hurry, health complications that ensued made feeding him and getting enough sleep to function, a full-time job. As such, I was house-bound for a number of months. Every week or so sunshine would arrive in the form of a fresh batch of library books. Because my arms were tied up with a sick babe, breast pumps and bottles, I was unable to give much attention to Sophie other than to read her stories as she flipped the pages beside me. We devoured those books. We would work through stacks upon stacks, often reading together for up to two hours a day.

During those long days we read and read, getting lost in the stories together. We got to know Stella and Sam (Marie-Louise Gay), a big sister with a wonderful imagination and a grand sense of adventure with a little brother who always wants to know, Why? We made up songs to go with the stories about Jillian Jigs (Phoebe Gilman) as she sewed “hundreds and millions and zillions of pigs!” with her friends Rachel and Peter. We read about the Jolly Rogers (Jonny Duddle), a pirate family trying to fit in with the land-lubbers and a small girl named Matilda who befriended them when no one else would. We have read so many books about dinosaurs that now, ‘Euoplocephalous’ rolls off my tongue with ease. We giggled together at the silliness of Piggie and Gerald, best friends who never let the weather nor common sense get in the way of their fun. We sang along with Skippyjon Jones (Judy Schachner), the Siamese cat who desperately wants to be a Spanish-speaking Chihuahua as he bounced and bounced on his big boy bed.

When Asher was a few weeks old, we told Sophie we were going to go on a family adventure and asked where she would like to bring her little brother. “Can we bring him to my favourite place?” she asked us excitedly.

We tucked the sleeping boy into his car seat and drove to the library. Sophie was jumping up and down with excitement as Kyle lifted Asher out of the car. “Asher!!” She stage-whispered as only a 2-year old can, “THIS is the LIBRARY! This is my FAVOURITE place!” She proudly pressed the buttons to swing the doors open and led the way into the children’s section to introduce her infant brother to all the magic she had discovered there.

Three years later, we still make weekly visits to the library, something we all look forward to. Asher now takes great delight in signing out his own books with his library card, feels so proud when he finds his favourite books all on his own to bring home. Both of our kids have finished the “100 Books to Read Before Kindergarten” list. Sophie helps Asher find his favourite books about cats, and outer-space, and ‘Cars Galore’ (“I WUV Galore books!”), and Sophie participated in the library’s ‘Summer Reading Program’ last summer, signing out at least five books on her own card from the library 13 times over the course of the summer, earning her 12 pins for her red base-ball cap and an invitation to a big dance party at the end of the summer, an exclusive packed-out event filled with the towns’ most enthusiastic junior readers.  

I am so thankful for exceptional staff at the library who have taken the time to get to know the kids and community members who come in, for the fun after-school and summer programs they organize and for the overall friendly and welcoming atmosphere they create. My kids love reading, and that is in no small part, a result of the wonderful staff and facility available to us at no cost, simply because we are members of the community.

Do you want to find out what is happening in your town? Do you need a quiet place to sit? Do you need something new to read? Do you need some inspiration, conversation or an opportunity to get to know people in your town? Check out your local library – adventures await!

Welcome Home!