Hope for a Summer Librarian

This week I started reading The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams, and I am entranced with it. I can’t write a review because I am only on chapter 3, but I can’t wait to see what happens to Mukesh, Aleisha, and others introduced, but yet to be identified. And though I have already read most of the books on the reading list contained in this particular book, I have added those new to me to my own TBR pile.

I am writing about this now because one of the main characters, Aleisha, has my dream job. She is a librarian. However, she is a teenage librarian working only for the summer. (How did this happen?!) Library patrons annoy her if they need help. She attempts to ignore them, hoping they’ll find what they need without bothering her. If they cannot, she is impatient and rude. She admits that she doesn’t know much about books and, therefore, can’t make recommendations. She can only help people find books if they know what books they want, and even then, she directs them to the computer instead of looking up the titles herself or showing them how to do so.

A good librarian can always recommend books, point people in the right direction to find the kinds of books they are looking for, and find lists of books like others for those who are seeking more of the same. A good librarian can also teach people how to use the library’s technology and resources. Aleisha does not have these skills.

But there is hope for her. There is always hope. I believe Mukesh, the other characters, and the reading list are going to help Aleisha to gain a fresh appreciation for the library she works in even as she learns how to help the people she meets there.

I think the best librarians love books, love people, and love connecting people with books and other sources of information. Librarians are matchmakers of the best kind. I hope the patrons of Harrow Road Library will help Aleisha to become that kind of librarian.

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Photo by Trnava University on Unsplash

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