National Library Week is underway, and Tuesday, April 8, is National Library Workers Day. In keeping with this year’s NLW theme, “Drawn to the Library,” we asked staff what books drew them to reading, and their local library, when they were younger. If you saw our posts on social media, you might want to know the titles and authors of their favorite books, both as kids and as adults. (Apologies to Children’s Librarian Catherine for missing the opportunity to put her in the social media post.)
Catherine in Youth Services shared her favorites now:
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
And as a kid, she enjoyed:
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Girl from Yam Hill by Beverly Cleary
A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman
Kittens by David Gibbon
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Astronomy: a True Book from Scholastic Publishing
Lauren in Technical Services recommends:
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
As a young reader, she loved these classics:
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great by Judy Blume
Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Library Director Joanna‘s favorites as adult include:
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
As a young reader, when she wasn’t hiking through Yosemite, Joanna loved:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Meet Molly, An American Girl by Valerie Tripp
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Youth Services Librarian Emily loves these books as an adult:
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
Watchmen by Alan Moore
The Bear and the Wildcat by Kazumi Yumoto
She loved these books when she was younger:
The Dinosaur Encyclopedia by Dr. Michael Benton
Dragon’s Milk by Susan Fletcher
Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Sara T. in Patron Services lists these favorites:
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy
As a child, she loved to sit in her study and read:
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
The Babysitter’s Club: Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin
Brandee in Adult Services lists these as her favorites as an adult:
Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo
Her favorites when she was younger include these titles:
Walt Disney’s Storyland
Bobbsey Twins series by Laura Lee Hope
Lambs’ Tales Shakespeare edited by Charles & Mary Lamb
Teen Librarian Maddie says these are her favorites in adulthood:
I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell
The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
Where the Dark Stands Still by A.R. Poranek
But these books are where it all started for Maddie:
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Sarah R. in Adult Services calls these her favorites:
Circle of Hope by Eliza Griswold
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
The Overstory by Richard Powers
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
And says these books are what she made her happy as a kid:
The Babysitters Club series by Ann M. Martin
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Sweet Valley Kids series by Francine Pascal
Kelly M. in Adult Services lists these are her current favorites:
The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara
Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
And as a kid, she read a mix of genres:
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough*
(*It was the early 80s.)
Laura M. in Patron Services loves:
The Summer Skies by Jenny Colgan
The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman, especially the newer We Solve Murders
But as a kid, she enjoyed:
Paintbox Summer by Betty Cavanna
Up A Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
Just the Beginning by Betty Miles
