The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson

“You see, libraries aren’t just about books. They’re places where an eight-year-old boy can have his eyes opened up to the wonders of the world, and where a lonely eighty-year-old woman can come for some vital human contact. Where a teenager can find precious quiet space to do her homework and a recently arrived immigrant can find a new community. Libraries are places where everyone, rich or poor, wherever they come from in the world, can feel safe. Where they can access information that will empower them.”

Oh this book. My heart is full of so many feelings after reading this book. It’s for book lovers, bibliophiles and, of course, lovers of all things library.

Junes Jones is a library assistant in the small town of Chalcot. She is shy, a bit awkward, and never left town. When her mom got sick, June took over her role at the Chalcot Library and never left after her mother passed. She lives in the house they shared and has not changed a thing over the years. June has isolated herself except for her neighbor and the interactions she has during her days at the library.

Then Chalcot Library is threatened with closure and everything changes. A group of library patrons start a group FOCL (Friends of Chalcot Library), but they struggle to gain momentum. That is, until June joins their efforts and risks her job. Throughout her efforts to save their town’s library, June learns to open herself to friendships.

This book was charming, heartwarming and filled with all that a library means to a community. I highly recommend this debut novel by Freya Sampson!

Check out The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson at the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…).