Three Dots at the End….

Sanctuary (noun): a place of refuge or safety; a space set apart, offering protection, peace, or relief from the pressures of the outside world.

This is my first time being inside the library since the world went silent last march. There have been virtual story times and community engagement, we lucked out with our local library and I’m grateful for that. But being inside the building again…I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.

Libraries have always been places of power for me. Books aren’t just stories and information, they’re thought and history and energy and wisdom. Libraries offer silence without demanding it. The library was my safe space in middle school when my awkward, uncomfortable self needed a place to hide away. It was the 1980’s so I spent the hours after school and on weekends at the library alone (do you remember the 10pm PSA reminding our parents that we existed?). The invention of libraries is one of the few things humans have done right.

The world outside has changed. We all have. I’m wearing a mask, I signed up for this time slot to be in this space, we still keep a distance of six feet apart. But somehow, experiencing it here, it feels like a quiet testament to resilience. There are a handful of other people here, we’re nodding in greeting behind our masks, each of us alone together, connected by the unspoken agreement to move gently through the space.

Resilience isn’t only about pushing forward. Sometimes it’s about returning. About maintaining our relationship with the places that have nurtured us. It gave me hope that even in a transformed world, these sacred spaces are still there, waiting for us to come back.