Thanks, Mrs. B

Virginia Balsbaugh

Virginia Balsbaugh was the librarian at North Miami when I was a kid. My last couple of years in high school, I was a student librarian. That hour under Mrs. B’s tutelege was my favorite one of the school day. I learned about the Dewey decimal system, about how important the alphabet was in shelving fiction, and the value and how items were placed in the card file. (That’s author, title, and subject, by the way.) I learned how to find magazine articles on virtually everything, how to cite said articles in bibliographies, and how books were chosen for the library. (She read them, and she asked the student librarians what they thought.)

She talked to us in the back room. Explained things. Asked if we were okay if something seemed a little off. She wasn’t a teacher at that point, although she had been one, but she was an educator nonetheless.

I grew up in the Akron Library. Well, not in it, but visiting it on a weekly basis and taking out books a whole bunch at a time. Years later, when I was writing One More Summer and didn’t yet have the internet, I called there and asked if someone could read the first lines of Anne of Avonlea to me so I could quote them. She could and I did.

“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.” ― Walter Cronkite

Borrowed from the Peru Library Website

While the ongoing disconnect between our city library and our county council has never found reconciliation,1000 Non-Resident Cards were funded by the Miami County Community Foundation. I have no idea who facilitated it, but as a Non-Resident, I am grateful.

In 2016, I wrote an article for the local newspaper about the library and what it does for people. I looked it up to make sure I wasn’t simply repeating myself with this one. I don’t think I have, but my intent is still the same. It is to remind people that the library is one of the best public services available. Much of what they offer doesn’t require having a library card. It is a welcoming place. A warm place.

Which makes me think of Mrs. B. Because being in high school is often neither welcoming nor warm. Being of high school age is not--at least for many of us--the best time of one’s life. It’s one you have to get through.

The article I’ve linked here illustrates the value of libraries far better than I ever could. I have no idea if the story is actually true, but I hope it is. Even if it’s not, it’s something good.

Next week, I intend to talk about some local or locally connected authors. You’ll know the ones I know ... hey, Debby Myers, Joe DeRozier, Kathy Oldfather. If you know others, give me their names. I’ll talk about them, too.

In case I never said it before, thanks, Mrs. B.

Have a good week. Be nice to somebody.