Description

From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Camden Public Library in Maine to Z. J. Loussac Public Library in Alaska, libraries are the heart of our communities. This wondrous collection of stories and photographs includes eighty libraries chosen from hundreds of nominations from across the United States and Canada.

The three hundred nominations for Heart of the Community: The Libraries We Love ranged from single-page essays to bulging binders filled with newspaper clippings, annual reports, and color photos. They came from urban libraries that had been brought back from the dead, rural libraries that had recovered from tornadoes and fires, old libraries made totally modern while retaining a sense of historic continuity, and new libraries that blend into the physical environment with energy-efficient and water-saving features. This volume is a treasure trove of historical information, inspiring stories, and beautiful images, old and new. Join us in celebrating the libraries we love!

Inside, some of our favorite authors share their passion for libraries. Mary Pope Osborne, author of the Magic Tree House series which features a mysterious heroine who is the librarian of Camelot, contributes an essay on the “Magic of Libraries.” Henry Winkler--the inimitable “Fonz” from Happy Days and today a director and children’s author--writes about the excitement he felt every time he took out a book as a child. He closes with this advice: “The library is a living place—you have to visit it, use it, enjoy it to keep it healthy.”

Edited by Karen Christensen and David Levinson with Leslie Burger, Nancy Kranich, Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Tom Phelps, Sally Reed, and others.