Studer Community Institute

Finding a precious gem in brick and mortar

March 26, 2015
/ Reggie Dogan
/ government

On a delightful sunny and warm afternoon, I did the one thing most people always do on a lazy Sunday afternoon in a city surrounded by sugar-white sand and emerald waters: I went to the public library. I bet if I looked hard enough I could find a rare soul who was willing to trade an idyllic refreshing breeze on the sandy shore of the beach for an artificially cooled building filled with rows and shelves of books and magazines. Any takers? Only a geek of the week need apply. With the wind at my back and the sun gleaming down on my head, I strolled through the electronic doors, across the sand-colored tiles into the cool, quiet sanctum of serenity. The Internet and Nooks and Kindles are amusing technological marvels, but I’ve yet to fall madly in love with them as much as I adore books and magazines. The weight of book calms me. The feel of the paper under my fingertips as I turn the page grabs me. Whether rich or poor, young or old, anyone, anywhere, anytime (why can't they be open 24 hours?) can visit a library without feeling rushed, pressured or out of place. Libraries give all people access to books, movies, magazines and newspapers — free information, knowledge and entertainment for all. Libraries inspire me. They cultivate creativity, a love of words, a love of learning, a desire of exploration, a sense of community. Whenever I enter a library I get excited about a new discovery. I find newly published books, stumble across older books I’ve never read, browse through magazines I may have missed or overlooked. Henry Beecher Ward said it best: “A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life.” As it were on this sun-splashed day, I perused a litany of books and thumbed a multitude of magazines that I hadn’t read in years. My mind drifted back in time as I recalled the youthful pleasure I experienced whenever I opened a Reader’s Digest. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the compelling and entertaining stories, the facts and random quotes, the challenging vocabulary words. Out of the armload of books I checked out and the voluminous pages of magazines I flipped through in the expanse of the West Florida Public Library, a nondescript article in Reader’s Digest left an indelible impression that I won't soon forget. In a compelling and clever way, a school teacher dressed down a dinner companion who tried to marginalize teachers by mocking his career choice. The teacher, at the same time, made it poignantly clear the tremendous impact teachers have on the lives of the children they touch each day. From the question, “What do teachers make?” came an answer that Socrates and Plato would appreciate. For teachers, the answer validates the exemplary job they do each day in our schools. For others, like me, it puts in perspective the vast amount of trust and hope we put in their hands to reach and teach our children. On this bright and beautiful day, so full of hope and promise, I found among the brick and mortar of a library a precious gem of a gift. It gave me pause and another reason to appreciate the big difference teachers the world over make everyday they enter a classroom. Whatever the cost, we should never underestimate the enormous price they pay to make our children become the best they could ever possibly hope to be. Read one teacher’s genius response to the question, “What do you make?”

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Finding a precious gem in brick and mortar

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