Lopez Talks About the Importance of Reading

For Layla Lopez, the library has always been a familiar place. As a child, Lopez frequently visited the library while attending a private homeschool co-op. She remembers especially enjoying the downstairs area, where she could pick out a few books and settle onto the couch.

Now, Lopez has returned to the library in a different role. She has worked there for nearly a month, helping patrons check out books, organizing the shelves and helping maintain the building and its collection. It is her first job in a library. Before joining the staff, Lopez worked as an assistant manager at Dollar General.

“So far, it's been great,” Lopez said. “It's been a lot of fun working here.”

Lopez has quickly become familiar with the many programs and services the library offers to the community. Activities are available for a range of ages, including family programs, senior events, arts and crafts with care home residents, a gaming club and a baking club. The library also offers cursive writing classes for students from third through 12th grade, as well as services such as printing and a diaper bank.

Lopez sees the library as a calm and welcoming place where people can study, work or spend time together as a family.

“I feel like people really enjoy the library because it's a nice, calm, quiet environment,” Lopez said.

Families in particular make frequent use of the downstairs area, where children can play while parents look for books.

“We try to make a good environment where they can come and play,” Lopez said. “That's a good way to help them get into reading.”

Lopez believes books remain important even in an increasingly digital world. She explains that reading allows people to find stories they love, relate to characters and learn information away from a computer screen.

“A lot of people prefer to have a book instead of, you know, just a website online,” she said.

Lopez's own favorite books tend toward mystery. She enjoys the Nancy Drew series, Aurora Teagarden mysteries and The Inheritance Games series.

“I like that you have to put together a puzzle while you're reading,” she said. “You think, like, ‘OK, well, this person, the way their character is described, they were acting all weird,’ or their story doesn't line up.”

For Lopez, this feeling of discovery is part of what makes reading enjoyable.

During my own visit to the library, I picked up a copy of A Dual-Language Reader: English-Russian — The Queen of Spades and Other Stories. I noticed the library had a wide collection of both fiction and nonfiction, including books in other languages and stories from around the world.

Lopez hopes families who want to encourage their children to read will start by visiting the library and getting a library card.

“It's free,” Lopez said. “There's a lot of good programs for kids.”

For children who enjoy listening as they read, the library also offers audiobooks and CDs that allow them to follow along with a story.

After growing up visiting the library herself, Lopez now gets to help create the same kind of welcoming environment for a new generation of readers.