Books 'R' Us.

 

In early 2004, a Zoetrope.com member posted a link to a "Librarian For A Day" writing contest on the discussion board. Anikó promptly submitted her essay, a touching paean to libraries in general, and to Glendale's in particular. During July 2004, we moved two hours east, out into the Palm Springs area. Near the end of October 2004, when Woman's Day magazine notified Anikó that her essay had been chosen from 500 submissions to receive one of their two Grand Prizes, they assumed her day as a librarian would be spent at our new local library.

But when my headstrong wife insisted on relocating the event back to our former library—-the place which had inspired her winning essay—-rejoicing broke out in Glendale (pop. 205,300). GPL generously offered to put us up in a fancy Glendale hotel, so we wouldn't have to make the four-hour roundtrip drive in one day. They treated Anikó like a queen, and even lassoed a City Councilman into presenting a Mayor's Commendation plaque.

It was an eye-opening day, full of positive energy that kept sparking more and more good vibes. One small example: the library's collection of Magyar books (which had recently eased Anikó's transition into American culture) had been painstakingly assembled years ago by an employee who hailed from Budapest... and Kati was now able to hear firsthand about the extraordinary impression her efforts had made on a fellow Hungarian.

According to WD's photojournalism crew, their magazine has over 20 million readers. Anikó's two-page layout appeared in their March 8, 2005 issue.

PS: Anikó just told me that she remembers the makeup artist WD hired for her: "The first and only time in my life that I didn't have to do my own face! They even gave me fake eyelashes - Woo-Hoo!!"

More details: http://9TimeZones.com/a/wd.htm