Cole Camp Branch Essay Contest Winner

The Cole Camp branch held an adult essay contest to help celebrate Boonslick Regional Library’s 70th anniversary. Patrons were asked to write essays about their experiences at the library and how it shaped their lives or the lives of those in their community.

Congratulations to Jean Healan for winning the contest and the grand prize of four Royals baseball tickets! Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. Keep reading to enjoy Jean’s essay!

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OUR LIBRARY: A WONDERFUL GIFT

by Jean Healan

The Boonslick Regional Library has enriched my life. It has provided me with work, information, and countless hours of reading pleasure.

My first library experiences were with Boonslick. Back in the 1950s the bookmobile came to Mora in the summer and parked under a shade tree in front of Alvin and Evelyn Kroenke’s house on the street that ran through Mora. Every time the bookmobile made a stop there, my mom and I were there, too. I was allowed to check out 5 books. I’m not sure if that was a library rule or Mom’s rule, but I loved to read so was thrilled to be able to borrow 5 books. I had already read the few books we had at home.

Occasionally we went to the Boonslick library in Sedalia when we needed how-to books or, as I got older, when I needed books for research papers. I still remember “the library lady.” She always had a smile. I think her name was Edith, but that was a long time ago.

I left Cole Camp at 17 to go to M.U., but moved back with my husband when he retired in 2007. One of the first things I did after we moved here was go to Boonslick’s Cole Camp branch to get a library card. A few years after our return, a clerk position opened up at the Cole Camp branch and I was given the job. The upside was getting to know the library patrons. The downside was I couldn’t read all those books!

As anyone who works at the local library knows, reading is my passion. The slower pace of retirement has given my husband and me more time for reading than ever before. With reading being our main source of entertainment, I check books out by the bagful. Or by the 2 bagfuls.

The library has given me hours–no, make that years–of reading pleasure. Without packing a bag, I have traveled to major cities and remote towns and villages in the U.S. and other countries. Without leaving my house, I have dined at the top of the Eiffel Tower, hacked my way through jungles, crossed swollen rivers on a raft, and had many other vicarious experiences. Without benefit of a time machine, I have traveled back to the 1600s, the 1700s, and the 1800s to present day. I have learned about the Civil War and World Wars I and II, how those wars affected the people of the time, and what they had to do to survive. I have learned about people and relationships, and life in other cultures. And I have read fluff to escape the daily cares of life for a few hours.

When Covid was starting to spread locally, I made one last trip to the library to check out a pile of books. A few days later, I decided we might not have enough books, so I left the house one more “last time” to go to the library for another huge pile of books. Library staff reassured me it was okay to stock up with as many as I wanted.

Days later the library closed. When the library reopened under a plan to keep staff members and library patrons safe, I was thrilled that I was going to be able to get books. The plan was a lifesaver for me, staving off boredom and saving my sanity! The library staff here in Cole Camp was wonderful, keeping my husband and me supplied with books! Even after most people had stopped being cautious and went into the library for books, the staff went the second mile and brought books out to me. They were always gracious and cheerful, happy to serve.

I’m not sure what I would do without our local library. It is a wonderful gift to have this library in our small town.

When I hear people say about their upcoming retirement, “I don’t know what I’ll do when I retire,” I always ask, “Well, do you have a library card?”