Lives change @ your library

Okay, guys. Buckle up! This is going to be a wordy post, but I promise it will be an extremely rewarding read. Last week was National Library Week. Libraries across the country celebrated in various ways, but we all shared the same theme: Lives Change @ Your Library. Here at EPL we talked to you. My colleagues and I, armed with cookies and a laptop, asked you to share your library stories. We asked you to tell us what you love about the library and how it may have impacted your life. I have to say that the experience was both entertaining and very humbling. The shorter stories I tweeted; the longer ones I will share with you here. Know that every single one of you warmed my heart and made me thankful that I’m able to work with people like you.

I’ve hung out at libraries all my life. I’ve been a big reader, a big fan of the library my whole life. I’m an artist now and use the library to do research for my sketches. I use the copy machines and take advantage of the large tables to spread out my stuff and sketch. It’s all right here.

—Shawn, Main Library

I grew up in an at-risk neighborhood where no one read books and some never graduated from high school. However, because of the public library one block from my elementary school, I dreamed of a better future. I graduated from high school and college, and worked as a secretary for insurance and bank company executives.

—April, Evergreen Branch Library

I used to come here when I was a kid and sit in the children’s area. I’d read while sitting on the giant stuffed gorilla! Remember that old globe that used to spin? I literally used to check out 30 books at a time and read them all and bring them back week after week. I was a really advanced reader. Now I can’t do anything new without reading a book first. Books are kind of my life.

—Jessica, Main Library

This library is a great community resource. And now that I’m unemployed, the library is my main resource for everything.

—Anonymous, Main Library

I love how the Everett Public Library is sending the mobile library out to our apartment building. A lot of people really need this service! If we don’t have it we find it very difficult to get our reading material. So keep it coming!

—Nancy, Outreach Services

Scott is the coolest reference librarian I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. Cam is great, too! Marge is a jewel. And David in the Northwest Room runs the best historical room on the planet!

—George, Main Library

I started going to this library in 1993 when we moved here. I was eight years old. I won the mayor’s reading award several times. My mom and I are still patrons, but now I bring my own kids. They do the summer reading program, too. It’s definitely a wonderful place to be. We also love all the changes.

—Anonymous, Evergreen Branch Library

When I was a little girl, my mother used to take me to the Seattle Public Library regularly. then she became ill with tuberculosis and had to go to a sanitarium, leaving my brother and I to live in an orphanage. I cried and cried and wouldn’t eat, I was so sad. That evening, one of the orphanage staff said that they were having story hour and maybe I would like to come. I went with her, still sniffling, to the story room, and there was my librarian from the Seattle Public Library! I knew then that I was going to be okay.

—Silver, Outreach Services patron

Ever since we moved to Everett eleven years ago, the Everett Library has been our favorite place in town. Other favorites have come and gone with the ages of our children, but the library has always had something for everyone; from storytimes, to free concerts, to all the history books I’ve wanted for homeschooling, to summer novels, how-to books, friendly children’s librarians—who became household names—to genealogical research tools and theology. The library has enriched our lives in so many ways. We can’t wait to see what it holds for us next!

—Anonymous, Main Library

Libraries are the first thing I look for when I move to a new town. A child that has nothing else in their life can go anywhere in the world, thanks to the library. It changes lives. This library has all the best books that I want. I’ll look up current bestsellers and they’re already in the catalog, waiting for my hold. You have a marvelous library! You do such a good job ordering everything that people want. Whenever my friends and I are sitting around talking about the best reasons to live in Everett, the library is always number one. I like to fall asleep in my bed with a library book on my chest. I. Love. The. Library!

—Sharon, Main Library

The Outreach program serves a lot of people that could not use the library if it was not offered. There are two ladies working for Outreach that are God-sends. Both of them work hard to provide services to people that need this service.

—Charlie, Outreach Services

I like religious books and read a lot about the Amish people. These books help me get a new meaning in life as I walk with Christ.

—Nellie, Evergreen Branch Library

I’ve been coming here since 1997. You’re doing a great job here. The library keeps me sane. Genuinely, I’m reminded of my hometown library in England, which I love. You have a great selection of English DVDs here. I honestly think that a lot of Everett residents don’t realize how fortunate they are with the services the library has.

—Roy, Main Library

The library gave me the opportunity to read a great deal more when I was unable to get around, due to the lack of transportation. It’s close to home, within walking distance.

—Anonymous, Evergreen Branch Library

You are a wonderful place! Without you, I would not have had any friends here. The library is a place for me to go to work on my patent, and a place to find good books to read. When I was homeless you helped me so very much. I never knew you had it in you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

—Mike, Main Library

I love books! Books externalize who I am, my very identity. I can have esoteric notions in my head about what I believe, the way I think about things. Then there’s that magic moment when I’m reading a book and the author frames it just right, and I’m like, bam! There it is! That’s why I love reading. Libraries are a vital portion of that because I can come in and find a book and take on it, be two pages in and think it’s so amazing. That’s why I love libraries and that’s what libraries mean to me.

—Shane, Main Library

I can lose money going to community college, or I can go to the library. If classes get too tough, I drop out, and that tuition money is lost to me. The Everett Public Library is free and lets me learn at my own pace. I see I can’t get through college, so I’m not going to continue to sign up for classes and lose that tuition money. On my library card it states, ‘To inform.’ The library definitely informs me. I save thousands of dollars.

—Anonymous, Main Library

Well, if I didn’t have the library, I would be totally bored! Since I haven’t had a TV for twenty years, that’s about all I do is read. Now that I’m retired from my job I come here more often. I can get the bestsellers, biographies, work on the computers, and read the latest magazines. The library is a good place to go on a rainy day. It’s just great! I love the library! Thanks to everyone who runs it.

—Anonymous, Evergreen Branch Library

I lived here when I was doing my schooling. Back around 2002 at City University, they told us to use the Sno-Isle libraries. I said the Everett Public Library has everything you need! They said no, use the Sno-Isle facilities or go to Renton and use CU’s. I stayed here! It had everything I needed, including those books that tell you who is running which businesses. I perused the periodicals, especially Harvard Business Review. EPL definitely had the right kind of resources for students like me doing research on businesses. You don’t have to travel to a different library system or wait for materials to be delivered. At EPL I can walk in and get what I need.

—Brian, Main Library

I got caught reading books under my desk in the third grade when I was supposed to be paying attention in class! My teacher sent a note home with me to my dad that said to take me to the public library so I could read to my heart’s content. And that’s what he did! I have always loved books and loved to read. I can’t get enough reading. I worked in the high school library when I was growing up. When I eventually had kids of my own it was difficult to find the time to read, so now I’m always sneaking away a little bit of time to read. I love coming here. It’s a quiet place away from my regular life. I come here not just for entertainment but also for learning.

—Rose, Main Library

I’ve been coming to the library for over thirty years! And now it’s so fun to bring my children here and relive all the nostalgia. I love seeing their imaginations run wild as they make new library memories of their own!

—Charlotte, Main Library

The library has given me a chance to learn about and experiment with new technology! I have enjoyed trying blogging, photo editing, and web design! And it’s the best place to do my personal research using the library databases for medical information, genealogy, and consumer buying guides. It’s also great to have free eBooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines! The library enriches my life!

—Esta, Evergreen Branch Library

I have been going to the library since I was really little and I always used to do the summer reading program. The library has challenged me to read more books and expand my mind about what to look for. The library is always an adventure. I am friends with all the librarians and they have changed me by being there for me in a way I can’t explain. Thank you, Everett Public Library, for being the best library ever.

—Marisa, Main Library

As a new father, I discovered that the library had playtimes on Mondays and Wednesdays. During that time, I had to watch my son. So it gave me something to do with him. As a young and naive father not knowing what to do, I saw that the library provided programs like STEM. It gives my son an opportunity to experience things I wouldn’t otherwise be able to expose him to, especially the social atmosphere. He’s learning social dynamics and how to interact with others his age. The library helps me to feel like a productive father in his development. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to do for him. Since I’m a homeless guy, it gives me somewhere to be as well. For the homeless community, this is a staple where other services for the homeless have been shut down. Especially on wet, rainy days, the library provides shelter and entertainment. The library has also provided me with crucial internet access that I use to search for services. It gives me a lot of encouragement and faith in the community that this isn’t a solitary endeavor in life. It’s a community effort that improves each other’s lives.

—Anonymous, Main Library

Before I started using the Outreach program, I didn’t have access to the library at all. Mobility and transportation problems limited where I could go. Now I can get books I’m interested in on a schedule I can manage. I am so pleased with the Outreach ladies, too. They are courteous and knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with. Without this program I would be quite bored and isolated.

—Orion, Outreach Services Patron

We moved to Everett when I was five years old. We rarely had money to buy books and, let’s face it, my public school education was less than stellar. Over the years, I’ve spent thousands of hours in this library, and have checked out and read hundreds of books, for one reason and one reason only—it was free. Now I’m pursuing my Master’s in English, and I owe everything, I believe, to having early access, free-of-charge, to as many books as I could get my hands on. How has Everett Public Library changed my life? The Everett Public Library has made my life what it is today. Thank you, EPL, and support your local library!

—CL, Main Library

EPL at both its branches, have been places that I know I can always go to, to obtain a myriad of materials that will either educate or entertain or, most likely, distract me from my life, which happens to be a good thing. I always know that the staff will go above and beyond what they need to do in order to help me in any way possible find what I need. Every time I come to the Main Library for what should be only fifteen minutes, I end up spending two hours here, thoroughly enjoying myself. A big thank you to all the staff here.

—Denise, Main Library

Working behind the library scenes as a cataloger, I don’t often get to see my impact. This changed everything. Having a reminder of why I do the work that I do was a big boost to my morale and overall work satisfaction. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who made this project possible. To the staff at both library branches and our Outreach crew, and especially each of you who shared these wonderful parts of your lives with me: Thank you.

Be sure to visit A Reading Life for more reviews and news of all things happening at the Everett Public Library.

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