And now she is a David A. Howe superstar!!
A Letter to the Editor by Cori Lunn,
When I was 8 years old I tried volunteering at my schools library. They told me I couldn’t do it anymore after a week because I kept hiding in the aisles to sit on the floor and read. I didn’t try again until my sophomore year of highschool, when I chose to work at my school’s library to get extra credit in an attempt to not fail all of my classes (which were partially due to all the classes I had been skipping to go sit on the floor in the library and read, old habits die hard.) Now, as a 21 year old, I work at the David A. Howe Library in Wellsville.
I didn’t know a single person in Wellsville when my family moved here in 2020. As you can imagine, it was a pretty hard year to make friends in a new town. And due to this, in addition to the social anxiety I have struggled with my entire life, I didn’t really know anyone at all that year. Until I joined the Dungeons and Dragons Club at the library.
I did not really want to join the Dungeons and Dragons club at the library. I liked D&D, but I think I mostly went to appease my parents, who wanted me to stop wallowing and playing video games by myself for at least one evening. I was one of the first members of the club. I didn’t come prepared with a character sheet, so I had to make one there, hastily coming up with a character named “Guy Elephant,” because he was a guy and sort of an elephant as well (for those who know D&D, he is a Loxodon.) I later wrote out an angsty backstory for him: he was separated from his tribe very young, and grew up alone. Once he came of age, he set out on a journey to find them. And, well, sometimes your parents are right, because I had a great time. I kept going to D&D, and a few of the other teen events I stopped in for too on occasion. I remember one day I went in and finger painted a bottle of ketchup on a wood block, for some reason. It’s still on my wall to this day.
I really cannot emphasize enough how life changing it was for me to have a comfortable third place to go to when I needed it. I remember walking out of the knitting club I went to once, stopping to check something out at the front desk, and before I left the girl working told me “We love you at this library Cori!” That meant a lot to me at the time. I was a depressed teenager with no friends. Where else would I go, if the library hadn’t been there? There are other healthy options, of course, but there are few that are as accessible as the public library.
After I graduated from highschool, I was left floundering for a bit, unsure of what I wanted to do next. I knew I didn’t want to go to college yet, and that I wanted a job, but I didn’t know where to apply. I hadn’t even considered that I could work at the library until Ally, one of the staff members who ran the D&D club referred me to the job listing. I applied, and much to my surprise, I was hired!
I can’t recall much of my first day, other than how stressed and nervous I was. But I liked the work a lot. I think a lot of people would be driven insane by how repetitive some of the things we do are, and how quiet it can be (sometimes,) but I really enjoy it. The difficult part is usually when patrons come in. To explain it simply, it’s kind of like you work in an office, but people keep coming into your office to ask you where the Shrek 2 DVD is. Or, of course, oftentimes it will be something more important, like: “Can you help me find and print out my immigration paperwork?” or “Can you show me where your books on cancer are?”
I have known that libraries are important my whole life, but I didn’t realize exactly why until now. Obviously, part of it is access to books. But more broadly, we’re giving people access to information and resources, some of which they might not be able to get anywhere else. Think about what your life would be like if you didn’t have a cell phone, or if you didn’t have a computer. I see people who are in that exact situation everyday. How many things are impossible to do without an internet connection these days? We have free internet, computers that are open to the public, and people who will help you use them. And especially in smaller areas, libraries are like community centers. A quiet place to meet someone, study, or do work is invaluable. There are people who depend on us for an infinite number of reasons. More than anything, working here has shown me that.
And I also help with the D&D club now! I’m like the library Teen D&D Club’s first ever apprentice. Sometimes I run the games, but I usually just help out in different ways. The club has grown significantly since I joined in 2021. A stampede of teens enters the library every Friday now. It’s a little hard to manage sometimes, but we honestly wouldn’t have it any other way, and I love being here for kids who are coming for the same reasons I was back then. Guy Elephant, my beloved first ever character, is now an iconic figure within the club. He still hasn’t found his birth family, but he knows now that sometimes the people you meet and help along the way can be just as important to find.
The library is open to all. Come in and see it for yourself.
