I read an article today that has the text of a speech given by children's author Philip Pullman in England. Pullman was speaking at a meeting to try and keep 20 out of 43 libraries in Oxfordshire from closing. It is an interesting article but I especially liked this quote:
"I still remember the first library ticket I ever had. It must have been about 1957. My mother took me to the public library just off Battersea Park Road and enrolled me. I was thrilled. All those books, and I was allowed to borrow whichever I wanted! And I remember some of the first books I borrowed and fell in love with: the Moomin books by Tove Jansson; a French novel for children called A Hundred Million Francs; why did I like that? Why did I read it over and over again, and borrow it many times? I don’t know. But what a gift to give a child, this chance to discover that you can love a book and the characters in it, you can become their friend and share their adventures in your own imagination."
Libraries. Let's keep them open.
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