“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of a library,” Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote.
Like Borges, many of us find a little slice of heaven in a public library. There, standing straight as soldiers in tight ranks on the shelves, are thousands of books waiting just for us: stories, adventures, travel guides, histories, and a dozen other categories of the printed word. Best-sellers rub up against old favorites, and classics such as “War and Peace” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” bracket the works of less familiar authors, mines of gold waiting to be discovered.
In the Samuels Public Library in Front Royal, Virginia, patrons find a spacious vestibule, lit by a wall of windows and ideal for work or meals. Inside are well-organized stacks with plenty of desks and chairs, a large children’s room with a play area for the little ones, and friendly and helpful staff. Warren County is home to many homeschoolers, and the kids and their parents trip in and out of the place throughout the day, lugging bags and backpacks filled with returns and check-outs. A small secondhand bookshop operated by the Friends of the Library and serving up coffee and tea welcomes patrons near the entranceway, and a full calendar of programs aimed at children and adults adds to this lively atmosphere….