Please Read A Book!

  As many of you know, I work in a library.  As a matter of fact, I've always known I would become a librarian, eversince I was a little girl and my mom took me to the library for my first book.  What was the very first book I ever read?  "Pippi Longstocking" by Astrid Lindgren.  I remember picking it up and not ever putting it down.  I enjoyed the thrill of her adventures with Tommy and Annika and how she had no parents telling her what to do.  I loved it!  When it came time to return the book, I was sad but I was soon consoled with my next read:  "Sarah Plain and Tall" by Patricia McLachlan.  Ahh! 

  As I got older, my love for reading grew more and more.  I found myself reading books by Ruth Minsky Sender (The Cage and To Life), which got me interested in what happened to some of my relatives in The Holocaust.  This got me into reading Non-Fiction books in addition to Fiction books as well.  Thus, I became a huge fan of American and World History and began reading history books. 

  If reading were an addiction, I'd surely would not want to go to rehab to stop it.

  However, with today's youth, I am starting to hang my head in disappointment.  They would rather be on the Internet playing violent games, bullying other teens and looking at R-rated materials.  There are days when I am in the Teen Area of the library and they are sitting there like mindless ZOMBIES playing these war games and chatting with friends on Facebook.  To this, I just want to go over to the Power Strip and yank it clean out of the wall!  Then I would toss a random book at them and scream "PLEASE READ A BOOK!"

  Please, do me a favor?  Let me keep my job, however long I might be at it, and take a book out!  I mean, something that will let you exercise your imagination.  Something that will take you off Facebook, Twitter, whatever social network you frequent or abuse.  Take out a book and read for a good two hours and stretch out your imagination.  The computer WILL be there when you get back.  So you missed tending your crops on "Frontierville" you can always grow more.

  To those of you readers who are parents, I highly and strongly encourage you to take your children to your local public library, sign them up for a library card and start them on the right path to reading.  Start them off with one of the first books you've ever read yourself when you were their age.  It's an amazing experience and it's something you will always remember even when they're all grown up. 

  And now, I present to you a video of my former Supervisor reading a book called "El Leon y El Raton" for our Libros Y Mas committee.  Enjoy!