When Elsa Sjunneson was a teenager, she regularly visited the Central Library. She picked up holds, browsed the stacks, and talked about books with Reader Services librarians David Wright and Misha Stone.
In some ways, these were fairly normal interactions between a librarian and patron. After all, helping patrons find books they love is part of a librarian’s job description. But for Elsa, who has since become an award-winning author and disability activist, it was life-changing, even life-saving.
The NoveList blog recently published a powerful story that recounts Elsa’s experiences at the Library, which she chronicled in her book “Being Seen: One DeafBlind Woman’s Fight to end Ableism.” They also interviewed David (now retired) and Misha.
“The library was my one happy place. I got to just be happy in the library with books,” Elsa said in the inteview. “The other places I was in typically were not celebrating what I was reading, which also sort of challenged me. It was the place where I started to figure out what kind of writer I was, too.”
Here’s the relevant excerpt from Elsa’s memoir:
“At sixteen, I thought about throwing myself off a highway overpass. It was on the way between my house and the library—a walk that I would take all the time. Half an hour up and down hills, through Seattle’s Capitol Hill, and eventually to the overpass. I’d pause there each time I crossed it, somewhere in the middle, and stare over the edge. I’d watch the cars as they zoomed underneath me and sometimes visualize pitching myself over the side.
“I never did, of course.
“There were always books to read just one block further, two librarians who were ready to hand me James Joyce, Connie Willis, Octavia Butler, Lois McMaster Bujold. The librarians were, perhaps wittingly, my saviors. The people who kept me from drowning.
“With every stack of books, with every chat about what I wanted to read next, they were helping me to stay alive. Because I am the sort of person to stay alive for the next good book.”
For David and Misha, as the NoveList story recounts, it was eye-opening and moving to hear about the long-term impact of work that they do every day.
“She always seemed so vivacious and confident,” Misha said. “So, learning later that other things were going on for her — and that we were serving this purpose that we didn’t know — was really moving. You don’t always know where people are at when you’re helping them find good books to read.”
David reflected that it’s easy to “forget how seemingly nondramatic, just regular kind of everyday interactions, how much meaning they can have for people at different stages in their life.”
Misha also shared how much librarians gain from these types of interactions.
“I know that compassion fatigue is a real thing right now,” she told NoveList, “but we are a lifeline for so many people, whether or not they tell us. In the moment, we’re doing that for them — but they’re also doing that for us. There are days when my conversations with patrons carry me through my frustrations or worries. There’s just a relationship that we’re creating every day.”
We encourage you to read the entire NoveList blog story: The Library that Saved a Life
And please also check out Elsa’s wonderful memoir: “Being Seen: One DeafBlind Woman’s Fight to end Ableism,” which won the Washington State Book Award for biography and memoir in 2022.
Elsa’s story was also featured in an award-winning PBS documentary. Today, she visits the library once a week with her children.
Thank to Elsa for sharing her powerful story, and to Angela Hursh of NoveList for telling it, and allowing us to excerpt and link to their blog post.
Top photo credit of Elsa Sjunneson by Lis Mitchell, 2021.
Elsa Sjunneson is an award winning Deafblind author and editor living in Seattle, Washington. Her fiction and nonfiction writing has been praised as “eloquence and activism in lockstep” and has been published in dozens of venues around the world. She has been a Hugo Award finalist nine times, and has won three Hugo awards, an Aurora Award, and and a BFA award for her editorial work. Find out more about her on her website.
NoveList, a division of EBSCO, has been helping readers find their next favorite book for 30 years and continues to develop innovative solutions for connecting readers, books, and libraries. Here is a link to SPL’s NoveList account.
– Elisa M., Communications