When I die, I’ve instructed my family to scatter my ashes near a large library. Maybe multiple libraries if they’re feeling adventurous. A pinch of me outside the NYC Public Library on 5th Avenue where I sat in the Rose Room and dreamed of being a writer. A pinch of me at the Vista Library in my hometown where I walked as a kid to check out more books than would fit into my backpack. And a pinch of me at the Huntington Beach Central Library where I brought my babies to get their very first library cards.
Maybe a dash of me near a Little Free Library or two.
I’d like to think this will let me haunt these places for all time.
Not haunting in a creepy way. No rattling of chains or slamming doors. I’d just like to make book recommendations and help where I can, because libraries are gathering places.
I want to be there to push a few graphic novels off a shelf in front of a reluctant reader. Or to guide a kid who loves being outside to the counter where you can check out seeds to plant your own garden. To gently nudge a teen with a broken heart towards the romance section so he knows that true love is still out there. To whisper words of caution to a girl whose crush is letting her do all the work for a class research project. Girl, he chews with his mouth open. You can do so much better.
And of course, to blast a furious gust of wind through the whole building whenever someone tries to remove a book from circulation because they personally think it’s inappropriate for young readers.
Based on the results of the October 17th City Council meeting in Huntington Beach, a community parent advisory board will now be tasked with approving children’s books that hit shelves in the Huntington Beach Public Library, screening them for sexual content. As of now, there will be no minimum qualifications for the review board members.
“Sexual content” is not specifically defined either, so it could really be anything from kissing to dating to coming out stories. A new book could be questioned based on a board member’s feelings on the subject.
Wanting to haunt a library might seem like a ridiculous ambition, but libraries are magical places and unfortunately, they are in danger.
They offer everything and demand absolutely nothing except quiet and a promise to return what you’ve borrowed. It’s one of the only places where the rich and the poor can browse the shelves on relatively equal footing for a while. The dynamics shift abruptly if a book is not available, however, because the rich patron can buy it and the poor one goes without. Obviously, that goes for kids as well.
It is a dangerous time to love libraries, but I cannot help myself and I know I’m not alone. Hundreds of emails opposing this resolution were sent to city councilmembers and the debate went on for hours.
The truth is that this has little to do with protecting kids and more to do with making a political statement that creates a problem where one did not exist.
So one day when my time on earth is done, just let me haunt the library.
Let me encourage writers at the same table where I edited my first novel.
Let me watch as kids happily scoop armfuls of books into overflowing tote bags.
And please let me offer words of comfort to the ones whose stories have been hidden out of sight because they made someone uncomfortable.
They’re over here, I’ll whisper. Don’t give up. Sometimes the important stuff is just hiding in the books they don’t want you to read.
Julia Walton is the author of “Words on Bathroom Walls, Just Our Luck, On the Subject of Unmentionable Things, and Weirdly Walter” (Coming 2024). She is a resident of Huntington Beach, CA.
