Talking about favorite library memories is apparently a popular topic, as J. Anderson Coats (The Wicked and the Just, Houghton Mifflin, April 17) chose to talk about hers today.

At Linwood Elementary, you looked forward to the fourth grade. That’s when you could apply to be an after-school library helper. Everyone – even the cool kids, among whom I definitely did not number – wanted to be a library helper. Being a library helper meant you got to hang out with Miss Wagner.

Miss Wagner was the kind of librarian who remembered not just your name, but what book you read last, what grade your brother was in and the color of your cat. She could identify any book ever written from the vaguest description. (“Umm. . . there’s a girl in it. . . I think she has blond hair. . . and there’s a pirate ship. . .”) And she had a way of listening when you talked that made it seem like the two of you were the only people on the planet.

When you were accepted to be a library helper, you chose the day you wanted to come in. And choosing “every day” wasn’t allowed. But there was something quietly magical about coming into the school library when everyone had gone home for the day. It was like a staging area for a hundred different little plays, waiting but not empty. Just being there made you a part of it.

I was too young to snicker at the mangy orange carpet or the chipped formica counter. I only saw the stuffed dragon presiding over the paperback corner and the bulletin board crammed full of book reviews written by kids. And there was Miss Wagner, surrounded by a crowd of eager library helpers, showing us how to shelve books, how to use the card catalog (the old-school one with honest-to-dog cards), and how to stamp due dates in those little boxes.

Mundane little tasks, true, but to fourth-grade me they were evidence of a world beyond the books themselves as artifacts, a way in which you could make a living surrounded by words and readers and stories.

I’d always loved visiting the library, but after three years as a library helper for Miss Wagner, the library became a place I belonged.

Eve Marie Mont is sharing her favorite library memory as part of the 12 Days of the Class of 2k12 today.

When I was a child, our home was always filled with great books. My parents are both classicists and teachers, so the study of history and language was an integral part of our upbringing. But my parents were no intellectual snobs. They read Dr. Seuss along with the Greek myths, Winnie the Pooh along with the Bible. As we grew older, they shared with us their own beloved favorite books: Little Women and Nancy Drew for my mom, Sherlock Holmes and James Herriot for my dad.

I can attribute my love of reading today to the way I was taught to love and appreciate books as a child. And while my mother was the one who usually read us our bedtime stories, my dad was the one who took us to the library. Some of my fondest childhood memories take place at the Fox Chase Library, where my dad would leave us to our own devices for an hour or more while he went to look for his own books. I loved to explore the stacks, reading the blurbs on the back jackets, eyeing the fascinating covers, and adding to my stack. It was there at my local library that I discovered “Choose Your Own Adventure” books and Sweet Valley High, Judy Blume and Lois Duncan, Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury, Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë. To this day, whenever I dream about a library (and I really do dream about libraries), I conjure up the library of my childhood.

Even now, one of my favorite things to do is go to my local library and amass a huge stack of books, then take them home and spread them all around me. My reward is to allow myself an hour in which to read the first chapter of each book, putting them in the order in which I want to read them. When I tell my students about this odd ritual, they think I’m a huge nerd, which of course, I am. But I don’t care—my love affair with books has been one of the most enduring and enriching of my life.

When I hear about budgets being slashed and libraries being closed all over the country, I am disheartened to think that some day, children might not have the opportunity I did to discover their passions and personalities in the pages of a library book. For now, I will continue to support and frequent my local library and hope that people never start believing libraries are frivolous nonessentials. I’d hate to live in a world that had forgotten that the best things in life—love, friendship, nature, and yes, reading—are truly free.

AC Gaughen, author of Scarlet (February 14, Bloomsbury/Walker), is talking today about her first literary party, including who would be invited, what would be on the menu, what the topics of conversation would be, and much more.

My guest list would be of the paramount importance. First, I would like to put Elinor Dashwood and Heathcliff together for dinner so that her sensibilities could be deeply offended and he could start shredding his napkin into furiously tiny pieces (in a wounded, endearing way, of course). Then I would put the young Alanna (Tortall series, Tamora Pierce) next to Katniss, so that they could argue over who is tougher and over all cooler. Then Katsa from Graceling would walk over and rock both of their socks off.

And who would be at my table? Well, I would take Magnus from the Mortal Instruments series, Clay from 13 Reasons Why, and Robin, John and Much from my own SCARLET. Is that not allowed? Because I would so like to hang out with all of those guys. Magnus likes to throw out all these sassy references from having lived for hundreds of years while still being fabulously gay, Clay is moody but sincere in a way that I would really like to get to know better, Robin is a huge grump with a total hero complex, John’s a ladies man with a heart of gold and Much is just a total sweetheart. However, I cannot stress enough that I will be the only girl allowed at this table. It’s my party, and I want some attention.

Let’s keep it small; we’ll cut the guest list off there. It’s better if Howl and all the other characters who think they are just so special don’t get invited this time so next time they’ll be dying to come.

Now, this is some pretty good company, so obviously I’d be attempting to make myself look good. I’d make crab cakes for an appetizer, because I really do make a great crab cake and they reheat well, so I wouldn’t be stressing about food instead of primping for the party. Priorities, people! Then I’d make my amazing slow cooker barbecue chicken for the same reason–it’s easy, stays warming, and I don’t have to fuss. Then I would buy cornbread from Tennessee BBQ but say that I made it myself.

And for dessert? I am a cupcake wizard, and I have recently perfected a peanut-butter filled chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting to go along with my Nutella filled vanilla and butter cream cupcake. By the time the dinner party rolls around, I will have learned to make an insane carrot cake cupcake, I assure you, and will serve this trifecta of deliciousness to my guests.

Then after that? WORLD DOMINATION.