Between the Shelves by Shehza

Between the Shelves by Shehza - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

It is not easy to find a place that feels like a home away from home. For some reason, though, libraries have always felt like a safe haven for me. As a young girl, I would beg my dad “can we please go to the library?” and “can we please stay longer?” until he would agree. There was no doubt that my love for books amplified my attachment to this facility. Growing up, my parents did not have the ability to buy me books as fast as a I read them—and believe me, I read them fast. So, when I moved into high school, it is easy to understand why I was visiting the library multiple times a week.
In freshman year, I began to notice that my school’s library was not in the best condition. Many of the books did not have a label, a cover, or even an intact spine. Furthermore, the stack of books in the return basket was always spilling over, as no one had the time to re-shelf them. Clearly something had to be changed, and I decided to be that change.
For practically the entirety of the next year, I spent time after school every day in the library. Usually, it was putting books back when they got checked in and moving books that were out of place to their correct location. The librarian and I got to know each other very well due to all of the time spent in the same room, and it was almost expected that I would be in the small library soon after the dismissal bell rang. When the library got extra busy or backed up, my librarian could rely on me to bring the influx back down to a manageable level. I was the sole student contributor in helping the school’s facility function.
Being a helping hand in that room also allowed me to talk to students who came to find a book. I would help them find books that they might be interested in and discussed books that we had both read. It was so heartwarming to have passionate discussions about characters or plot with people who were just as passionate about the book. Being there really made me feel like I was a part of a larger community of readers. Not only was I helping the school, but I was also helping students just like me find something that they loved. It always made me so happy when someone would come back and tell me that they enjoyed the book that I recommended to them. Being a volunteer at the school library was energy and effort that returned so much positivity and happiness in my life.
Time went by. When I came back for my first day of senior year, the school librarian told me some devastating news: the school’s principal saw the library as more of a liability than an asset, and he wanted to turn the facility into a computer room. I was shocked to my core—something so valuable to me and countless other students could be taken away from us in the next few months. I asked the librarian what needed to be done in order to prevent this transformation. Kindly, she told me that she needed more people to help out, as she could not take care of the room alone.
I stopped by the library every single day after that. I would shelf as many books as I could within the hours’ time, and I also encouraged my closest friends to contribute. I also started a petition in order to show that the student body cared for having novels, comics, and research resources to use at their discretion. The things that took the most of my time was repairing the books that had been donated or damaged. I borrowed a large crate and would carry it around during the school day so I could utilize my free time during class. I also lugged it to my car every single day, went home and fixed rips and broken spines. By the end of two weeks, I had single-handedly repaired every broken book the librarian had set aside. A month later, gratitude washed over me when it was announced that the library was here to stay.
The school’s library has taken a lot of my time over the span of my high school education, but it has given me a lot of fulfillment as well. The feeling of being responsible over something so meaningful has an undeniable impact. Additionally, giving back to my school by helping my librarian maintain the room is something that I will always feel pride for. Also, the positive connections that I made with the student body are irreplaceable. Reading has been something that has always been close to my heart and encouraging others to foster this connection really brings a lot of joy in my life. Even if I was having a bad day, bad week, or even a bad month, I found solace in being surrounded by paperbacks and hardcovers. My only hope is that I have helped others do the same by taking care of the school’s library.