Friends of the Libraries' Guest Columnist Features A lifelong love for the library By David Descutner August 6, 2005 The Athens Messenger

I spent the first eight years of my life in rural, southwestern Pennsylvania where my father worked for a coal company on the Monongahela River. I loved roaming around the woods and learning to fish, shoot, and trap, but I also learned to love reading. As the last of five children, I spent a great deal of time with my mother, who read to my constantly and taught me to read at a young age. My one frustration was that we were not a book-buying family, and I exhausted the reading choices quickly at our tiny school library.

When my father announced that we were moving to Midland, a steel town on the Ohio River northwest of Pittsburgh, I was disconsolate at the prospect of leaving behind my country lifestyle. Sensing my disappointment, my father, who also read voraciously, took me to the nearby Carnegie Library right after the movers departed and began showing me the many books on snakes, which were then my latest interest. I was immediately transfixed, and so began what would become a lifelong passion for libraries. I read all the time in those days and in every place, even during school, and found whole worlds to explore. Ms. Karcher, the kind, if austere librarian, encouraged me to read literature and history, and she hooked me on mysteries and memoirs.

Public libraries are critically important social institutions, and I remain a regular at our own superb Athens Public Library. That library embodies the spirit of community that makes Athens so distinctive, and the engaging staff, local art, and warm ambience make every visit a pleasure. I am also a regular at Alden Library, which is a superb public library in its own right. I haunt the new books shelf in Alden, marvel at the wonderful new Learning Commons, and invariably seek the help of the exemplary professional staff. We all are fortunate to have two such extraordinary libraries in our small town, and I urge you to support them and to thank their staffs for enriching Athens and the surrounding region.

David Descutner is a Professor of Communication Studies, Dean of University College, and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies at Ohio University.