Tomás and the Library Lady

"This is another book inspired by a true story. It is a quiet story but very powerful. What I really admire, again, is the role of librarians and libraries in providing a safe place, a sanctuary for everyone in the community, no matter their legal status. I lived in Canada for five years as a refugee but the libraries didn’t care. I was able to use all the resources that are out there. So, I connected with this book at a personal level. There are so many elements to this book that I like, including the storytelling part of it. Some cultures might have stories written and some might have more of an oral tradition of storytelling, like the stories we hear from our grandfathers and grandmothers in Farsi in Afghanistan. This transfer of stories from one generation to the next and addition of new stories adds to the collective memory of a family. I did enjoy the illustration a lot, too, it is warm and detailed in a classic style. We could talk about so many aspects of this story. Of all the books I’ve picked for this interview, this book is probably most true, in essence, to the concept of how libraries are open and accessible to everyone. We know librarians are underpaid, but they work for the love of doing what they do and reaching people in the community. It is like a thread between all these books that always comes back – connecting with readers, whether they’re children or adults … or a lion."