On Oct. 27, the people of B.C. are called to do one simple thing: "Drop everything and read."
This task seems so easy, so commonplace, yet it is surprising how few of us find time to do it on a regular basis. National School Library Day is a time to examine how the demands of today's competitive and technological society have taken priority over literacy and the library.
However, this day is also a time to appreciate what makes reading and libraries important, what makes them triumphant still.
Every time I enter a library, I am taken back to the first one I experienced, at St. Joseph's Elementary School. The people, and books, I was introduced to there have had a lasting impact on how I view reading, writing and learning about life.
Dreams and ideas grow best in libraries; at least mine did, as I developed my love of literature, especially through the St. Joseph's writing club. Even now, as a Grade 12 student at St. Andrew's High School, I find myself going back through the halls of my memories and into that time and place where imagination came alive.
Raya MacKenzie, Saanich
