I used to think I knew what a library was. It's that place down the street that's full of books. It's quiet with a librarian at the desk--and I've always loved walking through the stacks. I glance around, survey my place; because it really does feel like home.

I understand that economic troubles are hitting us all hard. We all must make sacrifices; many of us have lost jobs, homes--a sense of hope and dignity. Many of us are afraid. But I also think there are some things worth saving, and libraries are one of them! And, I'm not talking about some pseudo-place called a library that only houses a myriad of digital books on CD or DVD or accessed via a row of computers along the wall. I'm talking about a place where books live, where we can go see them, read, and get to know what it's like to co-exist in the company of a mass of volumes.

Creativity is great; and we should encourage reading in every form we can. In his article for The Guardian, Stuart Jeffries lays out many of the conundrums involved in the library debates: budget cuts, unemployment, libraries falling apart, lack of interest, the age of the internet, and so much more. Am I being too old-fashioned, naive and/or idealistic to hope that my son will continue know the comfort and friendliness of a library? I hope that we will all continue to know what it's like to spend a day in a library--surrounded by books

But, then... Why have libraries survived as long as they have? Because there are still readers who believe it's important. Isaac Asimov famously said: "I received the fundamentals of my education in school, but that was not enough. My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family could not afford to buy books, the library was the open door to wonder and achievement, and I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the wit to charge through that door and make the most of it. Now, when I read constantly about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that the door is closing and that American society has found one more way to destroy itself." Here are just a few reasons to visit a library...

The extraordinary tale of Jekyll and Hyde is rather unforgettable--all that psychological angst, violence, identity switching. It's the stuff that movies were built upon, so it's not really surprising when we see another Jekyll adaptation every few years.

The backstory of the Jekyll original is fraught with some bit of mystery, frustration and violence. As history tells it, Robert Louis Stevenson woke from a horrible nightmare, and immediately wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde based on his vivid recollections. When his wife read it, and didn't like it, he threw it into the fire, and then proceeded to re-write the work for the next three days. Given the enduring popularity of the work, we can only be thankful that the work evolved as it did. Could it have come to life in any other way--almost like a Frankenstein monster (from the ashes)...?

Stevenson writes: "I am painfully situated... my position is a very strange--a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that cannot be mended by talking." Perhaps, we can mend it by writing... What do you think of the infamous Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde?

Cover Art © W.W. Norton & Co.

So much of literary history is linked with women and mothers--even when there's a notable absence, that's something! Memorable moments can often be traced to moments of reading or storytelling on a mother's lap. Women have peopled the famous plays, novels and stories. They are the stuff of our favorite myths and legends--dancing along with the rest men and other fanciful creatures, making their indelible mark upon our imaginations. They were all there, beautiful.

So, for March, we re-imagine women in literature and history. It's Women's History Month. So, who should we think of? Jane Austen, who supposedly covered up her writing whenever visitors arrived? Charlotte Bronte (or one of her sisters: Emily or Anne)? Kate Chopin, who never wrote another novel when The Awakening was banned? What of Aphra Behn, the famous spy and plagiarist? Or Mary Shelley, who ran off with Percy, told ghost stories, and created one of the greatest monsters in literary history? Or Virginia Woolf, who eloquently described the plight of Shakespeare's fictional sister (but also encouraged us to re-imagine/re-think the history of women writers)? These women (and more) have gone before--it's upon their graves (and the body of their works) that we continue to build our literature--full of passion, drama, intrigue. It's what we're made of... Beautiful imagination...


Here are a few quotes:

• "I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." - Anaïs Nin
  
  
• "Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men." - Joseph Conrad
  
  
• "I do not wish them to have power over men, but over themselves." - Mary Wollstonecraft
  
  
• "And the crazy part of it was even if you were clever, even if you spent your adolescence reading John Donne and Shaw, even if you studied history or zoology or physics and hoped to spend your life pursuing some difficult and challenging career, you still had a mind full of all the soupy longings that every high-school girl was awash in... underneath it, all you longed to be was annihilated by love..." Erica Jong

Discover more resources for the month of March (Women's History Month... and beyond)!

• Women's History - Jone Johnson Lewis
• A Woman Young and Old - William Butler Yeats
• The Rights of Women - Anna Laetitia Aikin (Barbauld)
• Vindication on the Rights of Women - Mary Wollstonecraft
• On the Education of Women - Daniel Defoe
• We As Women - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Read more about the characters and writers in literary history.

I periodically receive an email from a visitor/reader who wonders how he/she can become a better reader. Sometimes the person is a student, hoping for tips on how to get through a difficult book, or how to succeed in a literature class. Some of the emails are from parents who are looking for tips to entice their child to start reading. But, some just want to know how they can learn to love reading. How?

Of course, we've all had such different experiences. Perhaps, some of us are just born book geeks--destined to devour the written word. For me, books have been ever-present: by my bed, chair or nearby. It's hard for me to imagine a life that doesn't include stacks of books--with bookshelves covering most of my wall space. Not everyone has such happy associations with reading and books...

One student told me that he hated the first book he ever read and he'd never finished a book since. Others say that their English teacher ruined reading for them, or they just never got the point of reading, or that all books are "just boring". One student told me that she never likes reading because she didn't want other writers to affect her writing style. A myriad of reasons, experiences and fears--all contribute to a dislike (even hate) for books and reading. Although I often try, it's not always so easy to explain/reason them away. I know how to encourage you to read. I can tell you all about authors, books and literary history. For me, there's a magical element to reading--I love stumbling upon a hidden treasure of words. But, for you to love books, you must pick one up and read. You won't believe me until you try it for yourself.