Susan asks:Have you kissed your local librarian today?

I love librarians. They steered me through the Dewey Decimal System. They provided me with a venue where I could spend an entire day, if I wanted, surrounded by books of all types. They taught me the finer points of research. And except for the occasional cranky-pants, they did so with amazing cheer and graciousness.

But mostly I adore them for introducing me to new books and new authors. In the Fifties it was Beverly Cleary and and anything Nancy Drew. In the Sixties it was The Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Sea Sprite, and biographies of Clara Barton, Florence Nightengale, and Nellie Bly. (Anybody else seeing a slightly feminist bent here?)

Also during the Sixties they introduced me to Victoria Holt, T.E. Huff, Celia Fremlin and my favorite novel of the decade: Ann Fairbairn's Five Smooth Stones. I admit they weren't universally as much help during the Seventies when sexually-laced romances became popular and I was looking to read as many as I could lay my hands on. But in the early Eighties my local librarian introduced me to Alice Walker's The Color Purple months and months before that book became a national phenomenon.

They've made my life richer through the books they've recommended. And as we all know, there has been a radical turn-around in the library system regarding romance--and that is due in large part to the diligence of the librarians who first "got" us.

So if any of you happen to be lurking out there, I just want to say thank you!