Lucas Camilo

A couple times now I’ve started a post about this scary, challenging political moment we’re living in, only to be overwhelmed. There’s so many horrific things happening — and an inspiring level of creative resistance in response — that its hard to know where to start. But there are two aspects of the new administration’s policies and plans that feel specifically relevant to Lucas and our family: the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the nomination of Betsy DeVos as education secretary. The battle over DeVos will be over soon as the vote on her confirmation is expected next week (and there’s still a chance to stop her from being confirmed! Call your Senators, especially if your states with Republican Senators who could be convinced to vote against her like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Kansas… the list is constantly changing). Perhaps most troubling for our family is her lack of knowledge and potential for undermining the IDEA Act, the law which allows for kids like Lucas to have access to quality public education. You can read more about that here. Meanwhile, the ACA battle looks to be more drawn out… so I’ll get back to writing about that in the coming days.

The other night as we did our before-bed gratitude Lucas said, without hesitation, “I’m grateful for all the people fighting for justice.” Like a lot of kids out there, he has a sense that something unprecedented is going on in the world… and he’s clear what side he’s on.

Life goes on, and despite the chaotic state of the world, Lucas has been doing great lately. That blog post from December where we talked about his often negative attitude — reluctant to go out of the house and mostly just wanting to do stuff “by myself”– well, that seems like the distant past. These days Lucas is much more open to new adventures and engaged with projects at home and at school. We’re not sure what flipped (better sleep? just a stage he was going through?) but whatever it is, its made everything a lot more enjoyable around our house. Oh yeah, and Ida is hilarious and wonderful too, and trying to be like her big brother more everyday. Among other things she loves animals, dinosaurs, reading books, rocking out to music, and being silly and a little stubborn (or a lot, depending on the day).

About halfway there! 13 down 14 to go.

But the title of this blog post promises something about libraries! So… as we mentioned in a previous blog post, we’re on a quest to visit all of Seattle’s 27 libraries. Lucas has always loved the library, and given some of the limitations on what we can and can’t do with Lucas, the public library is about as good as it gets: free, accessible, educational, and full of possibilities. We have 3 libraries within a mile or 2 of our house (Columbia City, Beacon Hill and Douglas Truth) and those have been our standbys for years. Beacon Hill is our most frequented library and probably will always be Lucas’s favorite (despite what Charles Mudade of the Stranger has to say about it), especially because there are two, worn-down plastic dinosaurs that hide among the stacks. Seattle’s downtown library is also a pretty amazing place, with multiple floors beyond the children’s section, an amazing view from the top, and a section that consists entirely of red walls and ceilings that Lucas loves to roll through.

So we had a handful of libraries under our belt when we set out on our quest, but in the last month and a half we’ve been to a half dozen new libraries throughout Seattle. Among our new favorites is the Southwest Branch on the border of West Seattle and White Center. Lucas immediately commented on the high ceilings and cool decorations, and the expansive kids section not only had giant stuffed animals but also a great selection of puzzles, blocks, toys for toddlers… and dinosaurs! The Chinatown/International District library is a small treasure with lots of different languages and cultural diversity featured, and a solid selection of kids books.  People were really nice there, too. Most recently we visited the Greenwood library (see picture at right), the farthest north we’ve ventured, and were impressed with its kids music and audio book selection, not to mention the abundance of big windows and natural light. Lucas made quite a haul of books, cds and dvds, as you can see.

Given that we also check out a lot of eBooks and digital audiobooks through the Seattle Public Library website, I suspect we’re one of the library’s more prolific users. As we begin to fight back against a renewed push towards privatization, deregulation, budget cuts, and efforts to undermine public institutions, supporting things like the library is one small way of resistance. Look out for more library tails as we continue on our quest to visit all 27 Seattle libraries!

Scenes from the Southwest branch