The first day of middle school is a defining moment — and a frightening one. And when you are a kid who spent elementary school recess reading books rather than running around, it can feel more nerve-racking than exciting. When we, Aruja and Marium, started middle school at the Young Women’s STEAM Research and Preparatory Academy, or YWA, in our hometown of El Paso, Texas, we were terrified.
What we didn’t know was that this school, more specifically its library and book club, would become a place that we both wanted to be a part of, thanks to our wonderful librarian, Pete Biddle.
Mr. Biddle is a guitar player, a rock star, a teacher, a hiker, and a joy to encounter on the YWA campus. Most importantly, he is someone who loves knowledge and always encourages us to seek it out.
On that first day almost six years ago, after hearing an announcement about the BookNappers Book Club, a book club focused on banned books, the YWA library became a part of our lives.
For Aruja, being a part of BookNappers throughout middle school meant fostering a community that valued reading just as much as she did. It meant connecting with new people in a space that was inclusive to people of all backgrounds, experiences, and opinions. It meant coordinating beloved school events, from the annual Harry Potter Day, where we replicated Hogwarts, to the haunted house, to the cookie bake-off.
At a time when reading for pleasure, or even for school, can feel like a low priority, when library programs are losing funding, and when so many campuses lack dedicated librarians, the libraries like ours — and librarians like Mr. Biddle — are invaluable.
From conversations about the latest political news to debates about the next fantasy book in a series to listening to awe-inspiring music during free periods, the YWA library is so much more than just books. For Marium, the library is a place of new ideas. That’s because Mr. Biddle encourages us to research, think critically, and look for the untold stories and perspectives.
Both of us, Marium and Aruja, have had similar experiences becoming avid readers. The only difference is the specific books that led us to embrace reading as a hobby. For 8-year-old Marium, the first page of “The Lightning Thief,” by Rick Riordan, part of the Percy Jackson fantasy series, had her hooked. Feeling reflected and represented by characters, even if they were mythical, was exhilarating. In discovering new books, she was able to continue chasing that feeling.
For Aruja, the first transformative books she read were those in the Harry Potter series. She, too, was 8. Aruja recalls sitting in a dinosaur-shaped stuffed chair in her elementary school library, and realizing she’d discovered her favorite hobby.
Mr. Biddle’s book selections and our subsequent discussions have also stoked our passion for storytelling. Today, we are both 17, and while Aruja now attends a different school, Marium often spends her lunch period in the YWA library.
Reading books such as “All My Rage” by Sabaa Tahir and “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah, both of which reflect marginalized experiences, inspired Marium’s interest in pursuing reporting. Having access to books like these in our formative years allowed us to lose ourselves and to find new versions of ourselves, growing along with the number of pages we flip.
Mr. Biddle started BookNappers by displaying banned books in our library, along with information on the people and policies that led to their being banned. He highlighted books like Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” ensuring that we knew why they proved so controversial.
Access to books is crucial everywhere, including in El Paso, with its large immigrant communities and its Title I schools serving many students from low-income households. A single book can have such a large impact. For example, reading “Born a Crime” made Marium finally feel like her identities on the Frontera, where she lives now, and in Pakistan, where she was born, are both valid.
Mr. Biddle’s enthusiasm and book selections make the YWA library a place that has pushed us to explore new topics and ideas. It makes us people who will forever love books. Most of all, we know that the library is always a home we can return to; a haven, thanks to our “friendly neighborhood rockin’ hikin’ librarian.”
Aruja Misra is a high school senior from El Paso, Texas, who loves mock trial and debate. Misra wants to pursue a career as a lawyer (as you can probably tell).
Marium Zahra is a high school student and a 17-year-old independent journalist working from the Frontera in El Paso, Texas, covering education, culture, and politics.
Hear more from Marium, Aruja, and Mr. Biddle in their audio segment for On Our Minds, a podcast from PBS News Student Reporting Labs.