Growing up, my mom would often take me and my sister to our local library and we would come home with arms full of books. If I finished my stack before our next visit, my mom was ready to go on an impromptu library trip while I was at school to get the next few books in the series I was reading. I’m very grateful to my library (and my mom!) for helping shape my love for books and reading.

On April 6 – 12, 2025, libraries and their communities celebrated National Library Week to highlight the transformative role that libraries and librarians have in their community. The theme this year of “Drawn to the Library” asked us to reflect on and rediscover what draws us to our libraries, and to not only show up at our local libraries, but to show up for them as well.

With the looming threat of federal funding cuts to our public libraries, we need to extend our appreciation of libraries beyond the month of April and continue to support our local libraries throughout the year. I would like to share the various reasons why I will forever be drawn to libraries and why I will continue supporting them.

1. While libraries offer so much more than books, the exposure to the wide range of literature that libraries offer is crucial and is the main reason why I am drawn to them. Over the years, I’ve been on countless adventures through reading. By middle school, I had traveled the world through a magic tree house, solved more mysteries than I can count, and entered magical lands through enchanted portals. These stories, full of the perspectives of people who are nothing like me, have taught me empathy, and made me reflect in new ways on the world we share.
2. At the same time, among the books that my family would check out were books in Spanish. As part of a bilingual household, this linguistic representation mattered.
3. Public libraries make sure that all of us can afford access to high-quality information and public space. As someone raised in a low income household, I am grateful for the access I had to a wide range of stories and perspectives from a young age. And as a college student, I relied on public libraries as a safe, clean, and above all free place to study and learn.
4. Libraries knit together communities, hosting a wide range of events for various ages from story time and read-alouds for kids to book and chess clubs for teenagers and computer and language classes for adults. Libraries are a great way to keep informed about the local community and be part of community events.

So, what draws you to the library?

If you are struggling to answer, I encourage you to take a trip to your local library or visit their website for upcoming services and events. Now, more than ever, libraries and librarians need support from their community members just as much as they’ve supported their communities.