Public libraries change lives in both small and profound ways
Library users share their stories about the St. Louis Public Library
Your Library Stories
Volunteering for the Library
Volunteering for the GED tutoring program was an important learning experience for me. As a Dominican friar and student at the Aquinas Institute of Theology, I stepped out of the normal list of ministry sites here in the city when I decided to explore tutoring opportunities with the library.
Most students, after all, work at hospitals, parishes, prisons or religious schools, but given my background in working for libraries, I decided to try something typical – sharing the gift of education and knowledge – but with people who are often ignored or forgotten by society. As someone who was the first in his family to earn a BA and who is about to graduate with his MA in Theology, I know the value of a good education. Education is what has helped me to express myself in the spoken and written word: it is what has allowed me to see more of the world by traveling to three other continents; and it is what has helped me to realize my responsibility to help others.
This desire to help other people by sharing what I know is part and parcel of the way of life for Dominican friars and sisters. From this experience, I have learned that people of all ages have an ingrained desire to learn new things. There is a real delight that appears in a student’s eyes when he or she comes to understand something new. Be it about English, history, math, art or himself or herself. These students are so eager to “catch up”, but more than that, to improve their lives. Getting a GED is a means to an end – the end being a better job or a college education, perhaps, but ultimately, a better life.
Working with these students on their dream and walking with them on this part of the path of their life has been a privilege. It has affirmed for me the belief that education and knowledge are powerful things. I believe everyone has a right to the gifts of education and knowledge, and I am proud that the St. Louis Public Library, as an institution of the people, is doing its part to ensure that those who want these gifts receive them.
Br. Paul Byrd, OP
A Lifetime in Libraries
I grew up in libraries, and reading has been a lifelong passion for me.
Since moving to St. Louis in 2008, I have been an active library user,
usually taking advantage of the online request system and picking up books
and DVDs at the Carpenter Branch. Though my library trips these days are
often short, I love the enveloping feeling of the place. The staff is
always hard at work, but quick to help out. And there's something
intoxicating about being surrounded by people immersing themselves in the
pursuit of knowledge. Libraries make St. Louis and the world a better,
richer place. Thank you.-Pat Howard, St. Louis
Central Welcomes Back Old Friend
Yesterday I was working in BST when a man called seeking information on how to repair a truck from the 1970's. I went up to the stacks and found 3 Chilton manuals for trucks for that time period. I returned his call and he was happy. I asked him if he knew where the Central Branch was located. He said he was 70 years old and had not been here since he was in grade school.
Later he came in to use the books and was delighted to be able to photocopy from the books the sections he needed to fix his truck. He then asked where the fiction section was and I directed him to the Popular Library Room. He told me he wanted to come back soon to see what other books we had in the collection and also obtained his first Library Card in over 50 years.
—Tom Winkleman, Central Library
St. Louis Family Gives Back
One thing the Harvey children never missed growing up on Cole Street was their weekly trip to Central Library. Their mother saw to it that her five children visited Central Library regularly and always had an ample supply of books at home for after-school and summer reading.
Recently all five siblings returned to Central Library to present a generous $10,000 gift to the St. Louis Public Library Foundation in honor of their mother, Mrs. McCleveland Harvey (Susie), a homemaker, and father, Mr. McCleveland Harvey, who worked for 32 years as a porter at Union Electric. The family determined that the gift be used to support the library's teen programs and to expand the Library's African-American and children's collections.
