It's National Library Week. Do you have a librarian to thank?

The American Library Assn. has declared April 10-16 National Library Week. Happy National Library Week, everyone!

As libraries have faced budget cutbacks nationwide, National Library Week is a time when they can be the focus of positive attention. They're holding a haiku contest on Twitter -- some call it Twaiku -- and celebrating bookmobiles on Wednesday and teen literature on Thursday.

Today, Tueday, is National Library Workers Day -- a time to thank librarians and the rest of the library staff. And for this writer, that means saying, "Thanks, Mom!"

It's true, my mom was a librarian -- a reference librarian at the University of Rhode Island.

Do you have a librarian to thank? Share your librarian appreciation in the comments.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: William Mendoza, 22, takes a break from running errands to read at the Pico-Union branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in February. Credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Karen Sandler]

Mrs. Hargraves at York Elementary School in Hawthorne, CA. That was back in the early '60s so she's long gone now. My friend Suzy and I spent hours with Mrs. Hargraves in our tiny school library. She even took us to a local amusement park as a special treat. I have such fond memories of discovering Dr. Seuss books with Mrs. Hargraves.

[Matt]

I love my local library, the Simi Valley library. The workers there are all knowledgeable and they offer very good recommendations.

Another feature of the Simi Valley Library is their Friends of the Library Bookstore. Here they offer used books, ranging from fairly new releases, scifi/fantasy, history, biographies, and classics to poetry books at a cheap price. Try maybe $3 for one of those fairly new releases. They also have a sale section with books for a quarter. I'll usually buy 3-4 books at their price and donate another $10. I don't want anything to happen to this little treasure in my city.

If anyone from the Simi Library reads this, thanks for the excellent work you folks are doing and I will see you all later today.

[Jaime Walker]

Thank you to my mom, Lincoln Middle School librarian!!

[KHorn]

Thanks mom and grandmother. Now that I'm in library school, we're three generations of librarians. I'm so grateful for your inspiration even if it took me a while to find the same path.

[Anny G]

Mrs Patla at the Lake County Library in Lakeview, OR. I remember when we as kids would go into the library, she used to let me sit and read all day long. She didn't fit the "serious, no-nonsense" librarian stereotype, and she could find books to interest any kid who came along. Life-log love of reading starts with someone like that!

[Aasheesh Pittie]

Mr Sain, Librarian, Secunderabad Club Library, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, seeing my interest in birds pointed out a pile of large format folders lying in a bottom shelf, dusty and quietly rotting. They were an invaluable set of John Gould's lithograph set of Birds of Asia, in original wrappers!

[Oleg K.]

Hannah Kramer, now retired, of the Will & Ariel Durant Branch Library is a librarian I'd like to thank. Curious, intelligent, and always interested in what a kid like me had to say. Though the branch was sometimes difficult to handle, Hannah never forgot to smile. On top of everything else, she loved books and was happy to talk about them to anyone. Not only is she the reason I love libraries, but also that I am a librarian.

[Local In need of good food]

In Arizona, school librarians are a dwindling breed. I am part of a parental volunteer librarian program that ensures our elementary school's library is open before and after school, as well as during lunch time. It's a time committment to say the least, but children nowadays don't deserve any less. The library is a place where dreams are made. I thank all the librarians for their committment.

[MAB]

Mindy Lieberman, formerly of the Glendale Public Library system, organized a reading group in the late 1980s, which drew me back to the invaluable resource that is any public library. Not only did the library feed my reading habit for free, but Mindy became (and remains) a good friend. Thank you to all librarians: past, present, and future.

[Helene Mochedlover]

In the interests of full disclosure, I must mention that I am a retired Los Angeles Public Library librarian. That said, I would like to thank librarians everywhere for their unceasing efforts to provide the best of all worlds to their patrons.

I marvel when I watch children's librarians interact with their young visitors, and I see those who work with young adults relate to them creatively. Adult librarians handle a myriad of questions and a diverse group like no other. In these budget-stricken days, it was inspiring to see the passage of Measure L, an indication of how important our libraries are to Angelenos everywhere.

LAPL has a new feature on its website, called LAPL READS. When I was in library school, we learned how to do readers' advisory, long before there were online catalogs and sources to help us do it. Now real live librarians have put together a marvelous resource for LAPL patrons, in a variety of subject
categories, that will open up a host of new worlds for those who consult it.
I hope that everyone who reads this blog will try it out !

And thank you, Carolyn, for your wonderful blog !! It would make any librarian mother especially proud.