My mother introduced me to libraries at the age of five. Every week my mother took my brother, two sisters, and I to pick up a collection of books to read so when we finished we received in exchange a happy meal gift certificate to Mc Donalds. My mother a single parent in the 80s worked very hard to give us an excellent education (something she never had), a roof over our heads, clothes on our back, and food in our mouths. The children's reading program at our local library was a godsend in tough times. I'm sure us reading and smiling as we ate those French fries made her heart melt. Education and food for her children her personal dream.
Her educational dream as a child growing up in the 50's did not go too well. Segregation, racism, and conventional ideologies about women were hot topics in southern California like the rest of the country and like many Mexican parents who grew out of this era she instilled her dreams on us creatively molding us hoping for us to receive a college education. We fulfilled her personal dreams when she listened to us read as kids and later when she witnessed her first daughter (me) graduate from high school. I then made her spill the beans over when I decided to go off to college! "Oh mija! I will pay for you to go to school!" she said. In which I replied, "Mom, I qualify for financial aid." "Oh mija, then I will buy your books!"
And there I was a college student studying history searching for personal meaning to my experience in this world. Everyday I visited the university library, a very different library from what I grew up with. Four stories high, computers galore, an archive, and stacks upon stacks of books... I was in heaven. History was the perfect degree for me. I loved the library.
Something about the library calms me. Maybe it's the vast amount of information in between the library walls, the smell of coffee lingering in the air, the quiet whispers in every room, the flow of people just like me in search of the perfect book, or the constant familiar faces. All I know is this is where I blossomed into the library lover I am today.
When I graduated my mom did not hesitate to remind the family I was the first in our whole entire Mexican family to graduate with a Bachelors degree. When I told my mom I wanted to go to grad school to become a librarian, she practically filled out my college applications. I made my mom the happiest mom in the world and mom I could not have done it without you. Your dream is now my dream come true. I am passionate about libraries. I love what they offer and I support them 100%! Thank you! They have provided me with the most fundamental skills to read, learn and grow. My goal and passion is to work hard and provide what libraries have always given to me, you and others... educational freedom. Thanks Mom! I love and miss you!
