By Sarah Janisse Brown -
I had something more valuable
Than a university degree
I had a wise librarian
And a local library
And locked up in my spirit
Curiosity untamed
My mother set me free from school
And I walked down Library Lane
There were bookshelves to the ceiling
And a million mysteries
The stories of 10,000 lands
Now opened up to me
And I found my place in science
And I sailed though history
And the wise librarian smiled
As she shared a book with me.
What do you want to be?
The pages are the treasure troves
And this card is the key.
So I filled my sack with freedom
And a dozen new best friends
I savored every story
I wished each one would never end
I read my way through worlds
That I never knew could be.
I discovered whole new cures
and I was rescued from the sea.
I pitched my tent on mountain tops
And I learned to watch the stars
I paged through Egypt's Secrets
And I traveled wide and far.
And I because a fighter,
a writer and a queen
I discovered galaxies
That had yet to be seen
Old friends, just passed me by
In a yellow bus each day the same
With my pack of books, I waved goodbye
And I turned to walk down Library Lane
Or a classroom in a school
I had a local library
And I knew I was no fool
So satisfy curiosity's fire
To research, think and dream
To seek jewels and reach higher
I began to spread my wings
Cause I wasn't just a child
With a pile of dusty books to read
The librarian would smile
Each time that she saw me
Lost between the isles
Like I was lost in far off lands
I'd wander for a while
And I rarely had a plan
For the books they opened wonders
Secret portals only known
To the authors and the readers
Who put down their phones
Who looked up from the flashing screen
To turn the TV down
To lose themselves in literacy
And find that they've been found
And I became courageous
And I discovered who I was made to be
And the sky it had no limits
In my local library
And high education soared
From the deepest depths I found
When I was free to hold the card
And simply look around
I was trusted with my future
And I was helped along the way
By librarians, artists, authors
Who had something more to say
For they treasured the gift of stories
And they offered words and art, you see
My future and my history
Page by page revealed to me
I had something far more valuable
Than a university's degree
I had a wise librarian
And my local library
And I unlocked my spirit
And let my curiosity run free
And I discovered who I was
And all that I could be.