my first stories had wings

I wrote about grumpy angels and scarred princesses who could fly to safety when their enemies got too close. Stories to make my little brother feel safe before he went to bed. My stories were spoken and they were performed and they were poetry in my head before they became words. I didn’t have a safe place growing up, so when I discovered I could make them for other people, it became what I loved most about life.

In library world, we talk about literacy and navigating a world filled with too much information. We talk about creating the stepping stones for lifelong learning and developing new and innovative services for our communities. But one of the things that I love most about libraries and one of the things that not many feel comfortable talking about is creating, not just a public space, but a community one.

A place where all people are welcome because they know, if they enter our doors, we’ll respect their privacy and give them a chair to sit, a computer to browse, a toy to play with, a person to say hello to, and a book to read. No matter who they are.

In a way, serving others is my story.

Hannah Lee is small-press published Appalachian poet and short story writer with a Masters in Library Information Science. They love to create new worlds wherever they are and the stories they tell are only the beginning. They also really, really enjoy making costumes. (see below)