Community Building Anonymous

During my weekends spent placing used books back on dusty shelves at Queens Village Community Library, I realized that Queens made the most of what it had. The dilemmas of my community fester in the book return bin. Teenagers stressed from the weight of life, hide in the crevices. Alone, they seek help from self help books. Bread bakers in my community, turn to printed words to perfect the croissant. Children in my community play with friends they found in a book. Sticky covered books slide off shelves. Crayons are strewn across the tables in the children’s wing, while newspapers and monstrosities of test prep books litter the adult sector. The GED books return to their shelves with the AP Calculus study guides. Tales of princesses and dragons and cookie eating mice go back along with MLK autobiographies.

The values and dilemmas of my community fester in the book return bin. There are teenagers stressed from the weight of school, work, and life hiding in the crevices of sleepy suburban Queens. Having no one else to turn to, they seek help from self help books. There are bread bakers in my community, turning to printed words to help them perfect the croissant. There are children in my community, playing with friends they found...