[Note from Frolic: Today, we’re so excited to welcome authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray to the site. They’re talking all things libraries. Take it away!]
In the pages of our book, The Personal Librarian, we hope to impart many things — an homage to the life of the astonishing historical woman Belle da Costa Greene, an unflinching look at the rise in racism after Reconstruction, and the vast legacy Belle left us. But the novel is also a celebration of libraries — the Morgan Library figures as the centerpiece of the story, after all — not only because libraries transformed Belle’s life, but because they utterly transfigured ours.
Marie Benedict:
I would not be writing these words without libraries — quite literally. In the 1800s, my ancestors made a treacherous voyage to come to this country from an impoverished Ireland. My ancestors and many, many like them supported the family members that came with them and the hungry folks back home by working in mines and mills if they were men and as domestics in the homes of the wealthy if they were women. They were bright but without access to education, and had to accept whatever work was available to them. What they wouldn’t accept, however, was that their families would forever remain in their uneducated status, and they would utilize any opportunity to help them rise. In my particular case, free access to the very first Carnegie Libraries elevated my great-great and great-grandparents so that, one day, their descendants could become doctors and lawyers and professors and teachers and, in one instance, a writer.
Unsurprisingly given my own family history, it was a library that led me to Belle’s tale, to my wondrous partner, sister and friend Victoria, and to the writing of The Personal Librarian. Even though I’d had a love of the past and its hidden narratives since childhood, I was derailed from that passion after college by societal voices encouraging me, a history major, to become a lawyer. From the start, I knew the law didn’t fit, and when it overwhelmed, I would escape to the magical museums and libraries scattered around New York City, the Morgan Library in particular. There, in its crimson and gold, jewel-box interiors, I first learned about Belle da Costa Greene and her crucial role in creating that magnificent institution. Belle stayed with me long after I left the law to uncover historical women through fiction, but it wasn’t until I met Victoria that I felt I could have a hand in sharing Belle’s unforgettable and timely story. Without my ancestors’ early admittance to libraries and without the refuge and inspiration that libraries provided me personally, I would not be sharing the story of Belle da Costa Greene — or any other historical women for that matter — alongside Victoria today.
Victoria Christopher Murray:
I was seven years old when I got my library card and it was my most cherished possession, even better than the best Barbie doll I received. Just walking into the library was like entering another land. I loved the stories that my parents read to me; by the time they turned to the last page, I felt like I had a bunch of new friends. But once I received my library card, it was like getting the keys to my own car. I could take myself to another place without my parents having to “drive” me. I could choose the books myself and go on trips to places I’d never imagined. I loved reading at the library even more than taking the books home because the environment, with the fresh smell of books and the hushed sounds, became part of the adventure.
My weekly visits to the library were what unleashed the writing gift that had been simmering inside of me. Back in those days, we were only allowed to check out two books at a time, but two was never enough for me. I always finished reading both books before my next weekly trip to the library. So what was a seven-year-old avid reader to do? There was only one solution — I had to write my own stories. After all, I needed something to read before the next library visit.
To this day, passing a library transports me to another time and makes me smile. Entering a library makes me want to dance…or at least, sit down and read. A library will always be one of my favorite places to be.
Our shared love and appreciation of libraries made it such a joy for us to write a book about the woman who was, perhaps, one of the most influential librarians of the twentieth century in one of the most spectacular libraries. Learning the intricacies of her life and then strolling through the halls of the Morgan Libraries together, we could almost feel Belle da Costa Greene’s presence and envision her touring us through her institution and collections. We hope this book does justice to the life and legacy of Belle and the many librarians who stand on her shoulders.