A Storied Connection

I’ve worked at this Library for well over a decade now and, while I have many stories I could share for its twenty-fifth-anniversary celebration, this one is my favourite. Our story starts shortly after I got my job here at this little library….

The school day has just ended and that means there will be a few kids trickling in for my coworker Betty’s afterschool program. I stay near the front, greeting the kids as they come in. 

Once the program is well underway, I return to my desk to deal with a new shipment of books. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a stack of books appearing at the checkout counter, growing taller by the second. I don’t see anyone, but I walk to the counter and see a girl, just tall enough to see over the counter, unloading one of those large grocery totes full of books.

“Well, hello there, friend!” 

She pauses for a second to look at me before returning to her bag of books. 

“Looks like you’ve got quite a collection there.” I pick up the scanner. 

She still says nothing but slides her library card across the counter. I scan her card. Her name is Alice. I start scanning her books. She watches me silently. 

Do I keep trying to make conversation? 

“Oh! I used to read some of these when I was about your age.” I smile down at the familiar mystery book. She raises an eyebrow at me and starts packing her books back up. “Do you want a receipt that says when they are all due back?” 

She nods quickly, and I print it and hand it to her. She smiles, neatly folds the long slip of paper, and tucks it into the front of the book on the top of the pile. She gives me a slight nod and takes off. I hear the doorbell chime and with that, she’s gone. “How interesting,” I say to no one in particular. 

“She likes you,” my coworker Betty teases as she walks back from her program with a bucket of supplies to put away. 

“Ya think?” I lean against the counter. 

“Oh yeah, she scowled at the last clerk we had.” Betty giggles, opening the supply closet. 

“Oh! Is she always like that?” I start checking in other books. 

“Sorta…? When she’s here with her family she’s a bit more chatty. But when she comes in without them she says almost nothing. Not sure why. Her brother plays field hockey across the road. She comes over, grabs her books, reads until he’s done, then they walk home together. Sometimes you’ll see them if we close up early.” Betty closes the closet door and shrugs. “She’s just a quiet kid.” 

I make a point of being at the front on the days I know Alice will be stopping by. I make sure to treat her no differently than any other kid in the library. She brings me notes about the books she wants and can’t find in our library, so I can place holds on them. Over time when they arrive from other libraries I hear a faint “Thank you.” 

She comes in on her birthday and, like I do for all the regular kids, I’ve bought her a card and a little bookmark. The look on her face when she opens her card is everything. I think it’s the first time I’ve heard her use her full voice. 

“Thank you for being so kind to me.” She takes her books and scurries off. 

As she gets older, she keeps coming to the library, and her stacks of books get smaller. The books, however, get longer. She stays and studies or reads until her mom texts her to head home. Her brother has a job now, so no more field hockey for him. Though I don’t think Alice minds much. 

She waves when she comes in and says goodbye when she leaves. Sometimes she brings me a cookie, which always makes my day better. If it’s slow, I go and sit with her and help her with schoolwork, or I stop by on my rounds and check in on her. 

As summer approaches, we are given a grant for a summer student to work part-time. The grant is for a high school student. Alice doesn’t have a part-time job yet and she is the right age. 

One afternoon, while she sits in her spot reading, I slide the application to her. She looks at it and quickly slides it back to me. 

“Just think about it, okay? It’s helping me stack shelves. You know how crazy the summers get around here. Betty can’t help me as much, so this helps us both get our work done.” 

I leave the application with her and go back to my desk. When I glance up sometime later, she’s filling it out.

It shows up on my desk a few days later. We give her the job. For the next three summers, she works for us. Watching her grow and come out of her shell is such a gift. The first time I hear her laugh out loud, I stop dead in my tracks; it is so contagious. 

Her grad year is quickly coming to an end. One day, she rushes in holding a letter. “I did it! I’m going to college!” she yells. “Oh, sorry! No yelling, I know.” 

“I don’t care! I'm so proud of you right now!” I offer her a hug, and she accepts. “You've done so well,” I whisper. 

“Thanks,” she whispers as she lets go. “I gotta run, but I’ll be back to study tomorrow!” 

I watch her leave with a bittersweet feeling in my heart.  

A few weeks later as Alice leaves the library, she slips a card across the counter and leaves before I can open it.

I open it once I'm in my car. “Thank you for always giving me a safe space and letting me grow at my own pace. Alice.” 

Inside is a ticket for her grad. She wants me there. 

And in all my years of working here, I’ve never felt so valued.