Books are amazing. Think about it: hours of entertainment and miles of language, a story with physical weight and no monthly fee. I like to imagine the personal library that could be built with a year's worth of commercial free Hulu subscriptions or the house with a couch that faces floor to ceiling shelves, the vertical titles of books to browse instead of channels.
Whether that sounds idyllic or terrifying, it's nice to remember that things were that way once. A radio on the kitchen table, maybe, but mostly chairs - sturdy chairs for reading by the window or the hearth - because books and stories and dreams were once a powerful privilege... and still are.
I always aim to remember these things: that books endure despite being relentlessly and ridiculously challenged more than any other medium. That they are worthy of our investment and protection because they are some of the best tools we have for change.
Weekly Story Sale / Thursday March 10, 2022
Sarah J. Bofenkamp is a reader, writer, and librarian living in Palouse, Washington.
