Ed Tibbetts, a longtime reporter and editor in the Quad-Cities, is the publisher of the Along the Mississippi newsletter, where this article first appeared. Find more of his work at edtibbetts.substack.com.
When I was a kid growing up in eastern Iowa during the 1970s, the school library opened up the world to me.
I remember rushing through my homework during study hall, so I could get to the library.
Like most students in school, there were classes I loved (history and English) and those I hated (math and science). But despite my misgivings about the curriculum, never did I doubt my love for the school library. To me, it was a refuge for independent thought and exploration, where nobody could exercise control over where my mind wandered.
There, the world beckoned, and I eagerly dove in.
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