Magical Wheels

On the days I park beside Yvette Williams the sun often streams in the windows of the large, creaking vehicle, dappling the shelves with sunlight. The sun whispers: ideas are here, and maybe a bit of magic too.

‘I don’t know what I want to read,’ is a common sentence I hear, its musical base note: I want to read something good. What’s good is different for every person, so we chat, ‘What kind of books do you like to read?’ I ask, and away we go. In this way, and in the search that follows, I’ve discovered many new authors, new styles of writing and new friends. Conversations can be gradual and reveal reading interests over weeks.

The work of the librarian is about trust, connection and access to the collection. It may appear that I’m working on my own delivering the right book (or at least trying to) like a magical fairy; in fact, the work that I do as a Librarian is largely based in team work. Back at the Central Library my colleagues and I talk, share ideas about the right book (or magazine, or ebook, or movie, or music, or comic, or audiobook), we find books for each others’ customers. We keep learning. We work together to create a crisscrossing map of ideas, so that any person can enter the Bookbus and follow a path to the right book for them. It’s quiet, great work. Thank you, Yvette Williams on Highgate, for having me and the Bookbus team there, alongside you.