If you haven't been following the news in my beloved state of Idaho lately, you'll be pleased to hear a good number of our residents, community leaders and legislators have been valiantly fighting the scourge of... (checks the news) teachers and (checks the news again), um, librarians?
That must be wrong, right? We definitely have better people to be pissed off at around here. We have honest-to-God White supremacists to fight in this state. We have actual problems.
But nope. Teachers and librarians.
I spent a little time considering how to use my space to address this. Raging might have felt good but would likely have resulted in nothing more than people saying mean things on Twitter. I could have attempted arguing, but I recalled one of my dad's favorite sayings: "Don't try to reason with unreasonable people."
It was starting to feel like there's nothing a newspaper columnist can do other than shout into the void (which really should be part of the job description). But I thought of another approach. It might not change anything, but maybe it'll shine a little light in the darkness.
I've lived in Idaho for 37 years. I attended 13 years of Idaho public schools, and I've spent hours in Idaho public libraries. So here's a list — and it barely scratches the surface — of a few of the teachers and librarians who have made my life in Idaho wonderful:
My Auntie Beth was the first librarian in my life and remains the unbeatable best. Since the day I was born, she's given me books that have surprised, delighted and challenged me — and now she does the same for my kids.
Mrs. Cash, my second-grade teacher, and Mrs. Strong, my fourth-grade teacher, taught me early on that I was a writer.
The late Mr. Brockway, my fifth-grade teacher, managed to get a bunch of 10-year-olds to memorize poetry — and let me go hang out in the library when I finished my poem for the week.
Mrs. Easley, my high school librarian, let me be a library aide, which gave me an hour every day to peacefully reshelve books and learn to troubleshoot Windows 95 amid the chaos of being a teenager.
Shug, my high school math teacher, convinced me not only to like math, but also to think of myself as good at it.
My favorite high school English teacher — who also happens to be my dad — introduced me to Henry David Thoreau and N. Scott Momaday and taught me how to give a presentation without panicking (which turns out to be a handy skill now that I'm teaching, too).
My mom's also an Idaho teacher, and I've had the joy of watching her make third grade and kindergarten magical for hundreds of kids.
I can't bring myself to narrow down my kids' incredible teachers, so I'll just add all of them to this list, along with their incredible school librarian, who has patiently kept my sons supplied with all three billion Wings of Fire and Warriors books.
My mom's also an Idaho teacher, and I've had the joy of watching her make third grade and kindergarten magical for hundreds of kids.
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Though I rarely see the good folks of the Latah County Library in person, I'm thankful for them every day. I struggle to comfortably hold a paper book for very long anymore due to my disability. But my library's digital book catalog is enormous and growing, so I can still access as many books as I can read.
For all the great teachers and librarians in my life I didn't mention: If you stumble across this column, know that you're on the list, too.
And to all the Idaho teachers and librarians who are feeling defeated: I'm sorry you're anyone's villain. I'm sorry you have to defend the best things you do against people who have no interest in understanding them. On the tough days, remember there are so many people out there who each could make a list like mine, and you'd be on it. ♦
Tara Roberts is a writer and educator who lives in Moscow with her husband, sons and poodle. Her novel Wild and Distant Seas is forthcoming from Norton in 2024. Follow her on Twitter @tarabethidaho.
