February is “Love A Library Month.” Two years ago, the Jay, Okla., librarian invited me to speak to their monthly group because I write about love and relationships.
As I organized my talk, I realized every step of my writer’s journey was connected to a particular library.
My first library memory is from Des Moines, Iowa, my birthplace. Mom would load my younger siblings and our library books into a red wagon. We walked four blocks to a huge white clapboard house that was the library. The children’s department was on the top floor — shelves and shelves of books that we could bring home!
Mrs. Woods, my fourth-grade teacher, encouraged me to write. That was the first time I realized anyone could be a writer. Later, of course, I discovered you needed determination, persistence and a desire to spend hours wrestling with words. In fourth grade, I only cared that I could someday have a book in the library.
Fifth and sixth grade were spent in Cheyenne, Wyo., where I read books that combined facts with fiction. I wrote “Cowboy Garry” stories for my cousin back in Iowa, full of our experiences in the West. My next library was in Independence, Mo., the same library Harry Truman frequented as a child. The librarian always let us know that “Harry Truman probably read this book. His goal was to read every book in the library.”
The library in Plantation, Fla., sealed my fate as a writer. Chrissy Evert was making a splash in the tennis world and pros offered free lessons to find their star tennis player.
I rode my bike three miles to the community center to take my lessons. But I was tall, gangly, and Florida is hot. Across the way from the tennis courts was the air-conditioned library. Writing was more my forte, so I hung up my tennis racket and brought down my pen and tablet.
At the University of Kansas Watson Library, I found bound copies of The Writer and The Writer’s Digest, two magazines that provide writing tips and markets. Author Sara Paretsky’s mother was the librarian at the Lawrence Public Library and when I attended Sara’s talk, I found my first writer’s group. Later, we had to move for our careers. My husband and I made a list of three things we needed in our new town: a church, the Y and a library. Joplin had all three and we moved here with our toddler son.
The Joplin Public Library provided our family with hours of discovery and learning. The Joplin Writers Guild meets the second Thursday of every month. We attended story time with our boys when they were little and found homework help when they were older.
As soon as our boys were old enough, they signed up for their library card. In high school, they received their passports for Christmas presents. Both gave them the world.
Terry McDermid now calls Joplin home and has published with Harlequin, Avalon and national magazines.
Opinion
Terry McDermid, guest columnist: Libraries helped inspire young writer's ambitions
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