Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Education and Religion
Like a Child in a Library

Like a Child in a Library

Last updated on: January 1, 2026 at 11:15 pm by Mary Pezzulo

0 Comments

Like a Child in a Library 2026-01-01T23:15:47-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

library books on shelves

image via Pixabay

I took Jimmy’s boy to the library.

I hadn’t planned to take him to the library that particular day. But we’d finished touring the city’s Christmas display and it was time for me to run errands, and Jimmy’s boy didn’t want to go home yet. He wanted to sit in the car and eat the candy he’d bought. I said that he could ride along for my errands with Adrienne and me, as long as he promised to brush his teeth when he got home. So we went through the car wash together, and we grabbed some fries at a fast food restaurant to wash down all that candy, and then we went uptown to the library.

“Have you been to the library before?”

No, he hadn’t. I’m sure he’d been to his school’s library, but not a public library. Steubenville has two public libraries: a very old library downtown, with guinea pigs in the children’s room, and a relatively new library uptown, with turtles in the children’s room. The downtown library was built in 1902, thanks to a donation from the notorious capitalist Andrew Carnegie. The uptown library was built in 1987, thanks to a donation from the family of a local businessman, Albert Schiappa. Jimmy’s boy hadn’t been to either. I took him to the Schiappa library, with the turtles.

“Now, this is the front desk where people go to borrow books,” I said in my very best teacher voice.

“Where is the–” began Jimmy’s boy politely.

“And this is the adult section, where you can get fiction and nonfiction books for grownups with lots of long chapters in them. This is their reference room, where you can look up the history of your ancestors.”

“Where is the–”

“And if you’ll just come back here, there are all kinds of CDs and DVDs to borrow if you’ve got a DVD player, in case you want to listen to music.”

“Can we go to the–”

“And THIS,” I said, leading him to the spacious back of the building, “Is the kids’ section!”

Jimmy’s boy’s face lit up as if I’d shown him a pirate’s treasure trove.

Adrienne excused herself to go get a book from the teen section. She and Jimmy’s boy have both been diagnosed with dyslexia, but she taught herself to read fluently in her own way since beginning middle school, and now goes through a fat novel or two every week. Jimmy’s boy is still struggling with fluency, but he likes stories as much as any other child. I took him up and down the aisles, explaining as I did. “The fiction books, the made-up stories, are organized by the first letter of the author’s last name so that you can find them easily. The nonfiction books over here, they’re organized by the subject. See, these are Bibles and Lives of the Saints. These are fairy tales. These are books about Christmas. And here are some books about history! Look, this one is about the Civil War.”

Just then, Jimmy’s boy found the Dr. Seuss books. He recognized them from his school. They are his favorites. He took a book over to the toy section, where there are cars and a dollhouse.

“Read to me while I play,” said Jimmy’s boy.

I opened the book he’d selected. It was one Adrienne used to make me read until I was so sick of it that I hid it under the mattress. Now, of course, I miss it. “Up. Pup. Pup is up.”

Jimmy’s boy played happily with the toy cars until I got to the part about the brother who can read big words like “Constantinople” and “Timbuku.” Then Adrienne went to the desk to check out her books, and we went with her.

“This young man wants a library card,” I said, “But I’m not his mom. I’m just his aunt. Does he need a parent to sign him up?”

He did need a parent, so I promised to bring him back with his mother another day.

Nobody had better call me generous. Befriending the neighborhood children and becoming their honorary aunt who takes them on field trips is self-preservation. I do it because it’s fun, and it makes me happy.

I used to have a notion that God wanted us to be miserable in this life, so we could earn happiness in the next life by our perseverance. I’ve grown up a little since then. Now, I think that God would be pleased if all of us were happy, in this world and the next. Suffering does happen in this fallen world, and it happens often. But that’s not God’s will. God wants us to be happy. You still have to try and be good to your neighbor when it’s hard, and it can be very hard. But the commandment to love our neighbor was given to us, because when neighbors love and take care of one another, it makes us happy.

How are you going to make yourself, and your neighbors, happy in the coming year? It doesn’t have to be the same way I do. Find your own way.

May it make you as happy as a child visiting the library for the first time.

Mary Pezzulo is the author of Meditations on the Way of the Cross, The Sorrows an d Joys of Mary, and Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy.

Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, donate to “The Little Portion” on paypal or Mary Pezzulo on venmo

Education and Religion

Home and Religion

Previous Post

December 31, 2025

Magnificat in Snow

Next Post

January 5, 2026 On Just War, and the Responsibility of Citizens

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Thank you for bringing so much goodness into the lives of so many children.Ran across ..."

alwayspuzzled

The Passion of the Red Oak

"This current administration has had me reflecting on the Nuremberg trials and the like, for ..."

axelbeingcivil

On Traditionalist Bullies, and the Death ..."

"You're talking about supercessionism, the idea that Christians "replace" the covenant that the Jewish people ..."

Alex

Yes, the Old Testament is About ..."

"Oh I'm sure it did."

Mary

A Televised Execution is a Moral, ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What miracle did Elijah perform for a widow at Zarephath?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fed 5,000 Turned water to wine Multiplied flour and oil Cured leprosy