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by Laurie Frankel

Pooh Lewis used to be my service project in middle school. We had to pick a volunteer opportunity and then write a paper about what we learned. I learned old people lie just as much as everybody else but for better reasons.

One thing that is good about librarians is they listen to what you need and want and think of a way to help you which sometimes is by ignoring what you need and want. Maybe they do not have the book you requested because their library is nothing but leftovers. Or maybe what you requested is wrong—people often are, even smart people who read—but it is okay because librarians have witchlike librarian magic to pick the right book for you.

Another impossible paradox: how to show your children they can keep getting up when all they ever see is the part where you fall.