By Frank L. Cole, Author of The Legend of the Last Library

My earliest memory of a library was when I was about six years old growing up in Winchester, Kentucky. I can still remember sitting on the floor of the small trailer outside my elementary school with my first-grade classmates, listening to our librarian read a book to us. That book was The Tailypo by Joanna Galdone.

It was a story about an old man living in the woods with his three dogs. One day while out hunting, the man encounters a strange creature, but because he’s so hungry, he doesn’t think twice about attacking the creature and taking its tail for his dinner. Later that night, however, the creature follows the old man to his cabin and decides to take his tail back.

As a young child, that book scared me to death. I can remember having to sleep on the floor of my parents’ bedroom for several months after hearing it. Now, I suppose this story may sound awful to some, and maybe anyone who reads this will wonder why I chose to share this example as a way to celebrate libraries. I, however, consider that early memory to be the spark that started me down this journey of writing books. It was one of the main reasons I became a storyteller. I couldn’t stop thinking about The Tailypo. It haunted my dreams and I wanted to hear more creepy tales about monsters and ghosts and fantastical creatures and magic. I started writing my own stories at a young age. They were simple, of course, and most were copycats, but that love of storytelling has never left me.

Fast forward several years later to when my wife and I first became parents and what do you think was the first book I purchased for my family collection? You guessed it! The Tailypo. Why would I do such a thing? I wanted my kids to experience that same spark. My three children have all heard the story many times, and I’m willing to bet they’ll continue carrying on that tradition with their own families.

My elementary school librarian couldn’t have known what would happen when she chose to read The Tailypo to a nervous group of first graders more than forty years ago. But that moment had a lasting impact on my life, my career, and my family, and has now impacted generations. Everyday sparks similar to the one I experienced are taking place inside libraries all over the world. Librarians are the gatekeepers to a universe of stories.

I don’t know about you, but when I read a book I form a personal connection with the story. Sometimes I develop empathy with different characters. My mind constructs a unique image based upon my own circumstances. Reading a book is a journey. Some journeys can be more of a sprint, while others take significantly longer, and yes, there are a few journeys I may not ever finish. But what if the way to read was so simplified and streamlined that it removed the possibility of having those unique experiences entirely? And what if the institution providing the story had the power to determine the information you did and did not receive?

My new children’s novel, The Legend of the Last Library, takes place hundreds of years in the future where libraries are a thing of the past. Due to a great calamity, books no longer exist, and paper has become a rare treasure that people known as plifters, short for paper lifters, will go to great lengths to find. Even a scrap of paper could be worth a fortune when sold to the right bidder at an auction. In this world, hardly anyone knows how to read anymore, because it’s no longer necessary. Thanks to a nifty device called a Syncron, all books and stories can be easily downloaded into their minds with a simple command.

Thirteen-year-old Juni Knox is one of these plifters who is looking for enough paper to help pay for her grandfather’s expensive medical bills. She is also unique, because unlike everyone else she knows, Juni has learned how to read. Then one day Juni discovers a book, an actual book filled with so much paper, and she knows it will be the answer to all her financial problems. But before she has chance to sell that book at an auction, Juni decides to read it and everything changes. That book opens a whole new world she never knew existed and she also discovers a secret hidden within the pages that could lead her to the Last Library on earth.

Frank L. Cole was born into a family of southern storytellers and wrote his first book at age eight. It was, of course, a masterpiece, but it was lost, and Frank has spent the rest of his life trying to remember it. Currently, along with his wife and three children, he resides in the shadow of a majestic western mountain range, which is most likely haunted. Frank has visited hundreds of schools nationwide promoting the value of reading and using imagination to solve problems and he can now say with confidence, “The Library has no need to hide from me.” The Legend of the Last Library is Frank’s 15th published book. Visit the author at frankcolewrites.com