Things I Learned About Reading From Working in a Public Library

Before I worked in a public library I thought I had to finish every book I ever started. It wasn't until one of my coworkers was complaining about how much she hated The Selection series by Kiera Cass that she realized mid conversation, she didn't have to finish the series if she hated it that much. The idea felt so foreign to me. If I hated a book I could put it down?

What happened next was a different co-worker of mine returned my copy of Divergent by Veronica Roth because she didn't like the main character. I was floored. She had just stopped? Now, Divergent isn't my favorite book, but I had definitely felt compelled to finish the series at the time because I owned the books. So I tried something new. Returning books to the library (where I worked) that I didn't want to finish. I felt lighter. I was still reading books. But I was able to find books that I was enjoying much more.

After that, it wasn't always easy to find a book that I was guaranteed to like, and reading slumps can and still do happen. Sometimes the reading gods have other ideas when all we want to do is find a good book. But it definitely got easier to say I wasn't enjoying a book I didn't like.

I want to talk about reading slumps. How do you get out of one? When I hit burnout a couple years ago all I read was fanfiction. Which is still reading. But published books absolutely fell by the wayside, I needed characters that I already knew and that felt safe within my burnout. Stories should be accessible, and any reading always counts. So that board book you've read to your kid 50 times? That counts as reading. The dialogue in your video game? Reading. Graphic novels? Reading. Webcomics? Manga? Audiobooks? Reading. Stories are stories. Doesn't matter if you're reading a novel or some fancy pants nonfiction that teaches you how astrophysics works.

Something I've learned as a reader is that books always find us at the right time. I've been recommended books that I didn't pick up until 10 years later, and it was the perfect book. Also, sometimes you're not ready for a book, and that's perfectly ok. When I was a kid, I started reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, then got so scared that I hid the book in my closet for two years, before opening it again. Now I love Fablehaven. I recommend Fablehaven, but I understand that it isn't for everyone, and you can't force something that isn't working.

Here's a special inside library secret, but every library has a policy that they go through their inventory for books that aren't checking out. So, if you're worried that you're weird for being into something that no one else is into, don't. If it's in your library, someone else in your community has checked it out. It is hard sometimes being the only person you know who's into something that no one else is into. But you'll find the community for it, it's out there.

With that in mind, read whatever you like. No, really. Also, here's another secret from a former librarian, (I promise I won't spill all my secrets,) but we really aren't judging what you're reading, we're just happy to see you. Libraries aren't just for books, they're for people.