Flying Books Deliver Daily Inspiration

This is my reality: All day…every day, books fly through the library and ultimately land in my hands. It’s as if these items take flight from the book stacks and land right on my desk… This experience of coming into direct contact with countless, random books every day inspires me tremendously. I wish I could track how much I’ve grown and learned, professionally and personally, since I joined the GCC Library family. Working in Access Services at an academic library is certainly a dream come true for a bookworm like me. A sample of our library’s extensive collection materializes each day. On every horizontal surface, books perch patiently, inviting me to take a closer look.

The written word speaks to my soul. Spoken words are fine, but reading words on a page transcends an auditory experience. Silent and deep, books change my life, one sentence at a time. Each book feels like a stepping stone. Or maybe more like shells on the beach…I ignore most, but certain gems capture my attention. In the same way, some books go unnoticed while others introduce me to a perfectly-timed message with lasting effects. It’s magical actually.

Momentary, random encounters can yield deep thoughts.
Recently I found the words of Octavia Butler and Brian Bilston.  In the library, inspiration is just a page away…

Refugees by Brian Bilston

They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way

          (now read from bottom to top)

 


 

4 thoughts on “Flying Books Deliver Daily Inspiration”

  1. Wow – I pass through those same Library walls and am distracted by the next task or problem to solve. I completely forget about the language, thoughts, creativity in those many, many tomes. Thanks for making me aware again and for sharing that beautifyl poem..

     
  2. I love your post, Ann. When I started college in the late 80’s I got a part-time job at the town library. My job was just to reshelve books. It was always really fun to see what books the town was returning to the library. In the coldest part of winter, there were a lot of travel books to reshelve. I have to say the library may not have gotten their money’s worth out of me because I would get distracted by the unique destinations and start flipping through the interesting places to visit. But the librarians never complained. A book in hand is better than a book on a shelf. <3

     

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