Children’s author (Which Witch) Eva Ibbotson recalls her adopted local library, peaceful moments in a childhood marked by Nazism:

I came across a building with an open door. I went inside. The room was very quiet and full of books. At a desk sat a woman with fair hair and I waited for her to tell me to go away. But she only smiled at me. Then she said: ‘Would you like to join the library?’
My English was still poor but I understood her. In particular, I understood the word ‘join’ which seemed to me to be a word of unsurpassed beauty.

Lovely story. Read on here.