Discover Richard Russo’s best library memory and more this National Library Week!
If you could describe the library in 2 words, what would they be?
Adventure. Freedom.
What is your fondest library memory?
The Gloversville Public Library sat (and sits) at the corner of Fremont and Fulton Streets, the most magical intersection of my boyhood. My mother started taking me there long before I could read. A Carnegie Foundation building, it was to my mind the most beautiful structure in our town, and the fact that it would let us borrow a half dozen books every week and trusted us to bring them back was something I just couldn’t get over. It felt a little like proof of goodness in the world. Directly across the street sat one of the town’s many glove shops, the one that employed my grandfather, and when my mother and I left the library, loaded down with picture books, she would point to the top floor where he cut gloves, and we’d wave, though the tall windows were dark and he wouldn’t have been able to see us in the street below. I understood that we were to be thankful for both those buildings. My grandfather’s labors in one put food on our table and a roof over our heads. The other, like church, was about our souls. Both were absolutely necessary.
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