The elementary school I went to was in the renovated old high school. Everything was brand new, including the school library. The carpets in the library were so thick and new that a kid could generate a static electricity charge just by shuffling his sneakers a few times and then touching another surface. I remember the brushed steel door knobs in particular could really give you a nasty shock. Ow! was a common exclamation heard during an otherwise quiet library period. So was the admonishment from the school librarian telling students not to deliberately shock one another. You had to keep an eye out when you browsed the shelves or you could be zapped by a classmate as you looked for the latest Nancy Drew adventure. Ow!
Looking back now, I wonder if the school librarian ever thought that part of his or her job would be telling students not to deliberately give each other shocks. Did they cover that in library school? Was there a seminar in weird-things-you-have-to-do-other-than-recommend-cool-books? Being a librarian is not just about shelving books and choosing summer reading lists. Librarians have to do so much more than they used to. Especially in public libraries, which have become the de-facto community center in many places. From helping people navigate the internet, to being a welcoming space for the homeless, to even delivering doses of Narcan, the library and its staff provide services that aspiring young librarians probably never thought of.
If you want to get a sense of what a modern public library provides for services in a small community library and read a great middle grade story, look no further than Amy Rebecca Tan’s A Kind of Paradise. Jamie Bunn made a big mistake at the end of the school year, and everyone knows about it. For punishment, she is required to volunteer at the local library for the whole summer, without pay. No art camp, or beach vacation, and certainly no hanging out at the pool with the classmates she is hiding from. Jamie is resigned to a boring summer at the creaky old public library.
But as she gets to know the staff and the regular library patrons, she begins to feel like she’s part of a community. Head-librarian Beverly can be a little awkward, but she knows everything there is to know about running a library. And,
Beverly never asked me what I had done or why. She just acted like I was another member of her cherished library staff.
The other librarians treat her the same way. Sonia becomes a mentor to Jamie, and encourages her to stand up for herself against her nemesis, mean-girl Trina. Lenny is the part-time librarian who shares experimental home baked goods and enlists Jamie’s help to win over Sonia, whom he is sweet on. They both treat thirteen-year-old Jamie like a colleague. It is refreshing to see a story where a child has strong relationships and even friendships with other adults. Jamie blossoms during her time at the library, and learns to forgive herself for her mistake.
But what I really liked was the library setting. The author does a great job of showing what a contemporary public library looks like and how it functions. The reader sees the financial struggles–the library is in danger of being shut down by the new mayor–and the community’s response to save it. But it is the little moments that shine. Sonia and Jamie compete to see who can create the best spine poetry. Jamie feels the joy of professional accomplishment when she learns how to scan books. And the librarians she works with all have a passion for and knowledge of their profession that is genuine and true. I wish I worked there when I was a teen.
And I loved the characters of the regular library patrons; from a homeless man who comes and sits in the same chair every afternoon; to an elderly gentleman who comes in every Tuesday to check out exactly five movies, or as he call them “flicks”. Jamie gets to know them and their quirks and problems, and expands her world. And when tragedy strikes, it is the library staff, including young Jamie, who rise to the occasion to help.
This being a book that is set in a library, there a plenty of literary references, from Jane Eyre, the book at the heart of Jamie’s problems, to the chair that has famous literary quotes printed on it, to the title of the book itself, named after Jorge Luis Borges’ quote:
I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.
Me too. So go to the library and check out A Kind of Paradise. Just don’t give anyone any shocks.
