Hello, my name is Marnie, and I’m going to share a story I wrote.
IMAGINE: Summer at Your Library!
My backpack was stuffed. I had emptied my desk into it and bits of the year were jumbled together: old crumpled permission slips, uneaten lunches, a tattered agenda and half sheets of spelling. It was the last day of school and my mom was trying to make sense of the mess. At the bottom of my backpack, she discovered a library book.
Three weeks before, the librarian at my public library had placed it in my hands and assured me I would like it. I didn’t like it; I LOVED it! It was an epic quest. The book was exciting, it was funny, and it was due—today!
My mom rushed me out the door. The library would be closing in fifteen minutes! “We’re not paying that fine!” Mom called back to me, her hair flying out behind her as she hurried along the street ahead of me. Suddenly I was transformed. I was no longer a kid finishing the school year. I was an adventurer extraordinaire. My short trip to the library was a monumental quest requiring great skill and cunning, my book a priceless treasure I must return to its rightful owner.
“Five minutes to closing,” the librarian announced as we entered the library. We’d made it! But now, the second part of my quest, and an even greater challenge: how to find a new book to take home before the library closed! I had to pull myself together—and fast.
Just then, a display for the TD Summer Reading Club grabbed my attention. Yes! Once again, my belief that librarians can read minds was confirmed. All my favourite books were together on one table. I saw books filled with fantastical machines, animal adventures, scary stories, time travel, mythical creatures, folklore and more!
One book glowed; I believe it may have even hummed. Most certainly it beckoned to be picked up. I briefly read the cover. It was about magic. Tonight I would exchange my treasure for a sorcerer’s hat and gown. Tonight, I would cast spells.
As I walked home, I saw the days of summer spread before me. Days filled with swimming, soccer, video games, camp, friends and, most certainly, books. Where would they take me? Who would I become? I couldn’t wait to find out.
Summer vacation, here I come!
The story Imagine is read by Marnie Woudstra from the Toronto Public Library
