EDITORIAL: Library system is gift that keeps on giving

I FIRST DISCOVERED the public library as a child (when it was known as the Lucas County Library).

Exploring around our neighborhood, I looked through a basement transom window that opened to a room at the former Glann School and wondered what all those books were. They had the most amazing aroma.

In those days, the early version of the modern-day bookmobile came into neighborhoods with a collection of books. It was so much fun to mount the big steps into the huge bookmobile. I became a big fan. Full library services hadn’t reached Reynolds Corners, as “the sticks” weren’t part of the city then.

When we visited our grandparents’ home on Pinewood‎, our mother would take us to the Mott Branch on Saturdays. I signed up for a library card there, too, as it was part of the Toledo Public Library and the two systems had not yet merged. Our mother was a faithful patron of the library.

She never lost her passion for learning. I have no doubt she checked out thousands of books in her lifetime. Books were always an important part of our family life. Our father’s sister bought us our first set of encyclopedias. ‎When our mother passed, there were two items in a special pouch in her billfold — her Medicare card and her library card.

As a child, I remember “story hour”‎ as part of summer. It was so much fun to listen to the storyteller ... a real performance each time.

My first “real” job was as a page at the Reynolds Corners Branch Library when I was a teenager.

It was located at the corner of Dorr and Reynolds, not far from its current location.

‎I worked there for three years during high school to earn money for college. Learning the Dewey Decimal System proved to be a valuable tool for life. I also used my spare time to read, poring over college catalogs and making some of the most important early decisions of my life. ‎I learned to greet customers, make change, shelve books properly, and keep up to date on periodicals of all sorts.

What a rare privilege that was. I was fortunate to meet many fine librarians — Dorothy Strouse, Phyllis Shearer, Helen Perkins ... all pioneering, determined women who devoted their lives to building one of the finest library systems in our nation so all citizens can learn.

There is no excuse for lack of learning by anyone in our community. Learning is essential to maintaining liberty. For those who choose to pass through the library’s portals in real or virtual‎ time, the library offers lifelong learning. The library can help a person find ways to help his or her knowledge grow as it can literally take one around the world — for free. Our Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system provides every citizen an equal opportunity to learn — and education can never be taken away.

Our gold standard library system is a gift this community has admirably passed on from generation to generation. It is a gift that never stops giving.

Marcy Kaptur is the U.S. representative for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.

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