"Welcome to the library," said the librarian, looking at the young girl standing in front of her. "How can I help you?"
"Uh. I'd like a book, please," said the girl, twisting the front of her sweater between her fingers.
"That's perfect, because we have books. Lots of them," said the librarian, happily. "Do you have a title, or the name of an author you like?"
The girl shook her head.
"What do you like to read?"
The girl shrugged.
"Hmmm. Do you like mysteries, magic, unicorns, science, vampires, poetry, funny things, or anything else you can think of?"
"Magic, I think."
"Have you read the Harry Potter books?"
She shook her head.
"Ohhhhhh, you are in for a lot of fun," said the librarian, waving the girl to follow her. "This is the first book in the series," said the librarian, excitedly. "If you like magic, you're going to love these books. But these are not the only books with magic that we have," she continued, pulling books off the shelves, while the girl stared at the growing stack of books on the table.
"Okay, you sit her and look through these books. See if you like any of them. The characters in the Potter books are wonderful. They're books about friendship, loyalty, the difficulty of being alive and the meaning of never giving up. There are flying horses, unicorns, lots of magic and...well, enough. You just sift through them and you can borrow as many as you like."
The girl watched the woman walk away, then turned to the books piled in front of her. One by one she looked though them, reading the back covers or the first chapters, if she found them interesting. The librarian checked on her from time to time and re-shelved the books in her "no" pile. Finally the girl brought two books to the front desk and placed them in front of the librarian.
"Such good choices," she said, stamping the Harry Potter Book and The Little Prince. There are movies on these books as well. After you've read them, you can borrow the films, if you like. Now, is there anything else you would like to see?"
The girl looked down then said, in a very soft voice, "Something for my mom."
"Okay. What does your mom like to read?"
"She likes books about how women got the vote and things like that."
"I know just the book," said the librarian. "Wait right there."
When she came back she showed the girl a book on Alice Paul and one on Susan B. Anthony. I'm sure she will be happy with these."
After the girl left, a woman walked up to the desk and said, "That's Lottie Wilson. Her mom works two jobs and has a pretty hard life. They read together every night. This is the first time I've seen Lottie here alone.
The librarian watched the woman walk away, then made a list of books to give Lottie next time she came in. She would put them on the hold shelf, along with the lunch she would make for her, as well.
An old man leaned against the desk. "Hi," he said. "Can you help me?"
"I'm a librarian. I can definitely help you," she said, smiling at him.
Picture: Pixabay
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