Share A Story
Would you like to share your story? Let us know!
The Dale Connors Story
By Dean Connors
Dale Connors was a chronic paranoid schizophrenic for most of the adult portion of his 53 years. Early on, Dale's paranoia and anger compelled him to alienate himself from his family, and forever afterward to avoid any kind of normal socialization. Even so, Dale managed to be well behaved, well groomed, well organized, able to take care of himself and carry on some sort of intellectual and artistic life for himself.
In his younger days, Dale graduated from MATC, and for a time he worked at Oscar Mayer. For most of his life he lived outdoors, always away from people, usually without friends or family. As he grew older, Dale mellowed and lost most of his hostility, making him a much more attractive and interesting character. The smile and sense of humor that had characterized his childhood returned. He had a bicycle, which he rode many miles each day in all kinds of weather. Some of the neighbors who recognized Dale bicycling along, even in the worst of Madison weather, referred to him as "the bicycle man" or "the toughest man in the world."
Dale spent time at the Pinney branch of the Library, quietly reading. He must have felt welcome there, because he returned often. In fact, on the night he was killed in a hit and run accident, Dale had been reading at the Pinney branch. Here is an observation sent to our family by someone who knew who he was - Andy saw Dale on Tuesday, the night he died while he was at the Pinney Library to check his e-mail. Dale was there also. Andy commented that in previous years Dale was always reading books about far away lands, as he was that night. Andy waved at Dale and Dale smiled back. Andy thought about him on his bike that night in the bitter cold and slushy weather and thought Dale was indeed "the toughest man in the world."
The library offers knowledge, imagination, warmth and safety to all kinds of people, even to special people like Dale whose mental disease makes it impossible for them to lead anything like a normal life. Most people who constantly have to struggle against forces are the ones least able to understand. Dale managed on his own to cope with those forces as well as anyone could. At the Pinney branch of the Library he must have felt welcome and comfortable, and for making that possible, the family of Dale Connors will always be most grateful.
Book Lovers of Madison
To the book-lovers at Madison Public Library:
All of you, I am sure, love books. You probably wouldn't be connected with the library if you didn’t. Still, I believe there is probably no one who feels quite as passionately about books and libraries as I do.
Now, why do I say that? Well, the reason for this belief goes back in time more than 75 years. I grew up in a small village on a fjord in Norway where everyone was poor, including those who could afford to buy new shoes and some of their clothes from the one store in the village.
Miraculously, the school had a good library, and after I learned to read, I was a voracious reader. I remember the exact moment in 1st grade when I discovered I was able to read. I was sitting at home, going through the pages in my ABC reader, where we had just been learning the letters and a few two-letter words. All of a sudden it dawned on me that I was able to pick out and put together some of the letters, and the combination of those letters could make up actual words, words that were familiar to me and that I could pronounce. I felt quite elated and happy that I had accomplished this on my own. And that started me on a dangerous slope toward addiction to reading. I must admit that many of my friends evidently felt much the same way, although perhaps not quite so passionately.
Then one day there was a big fight between some of the bigger boys on the playground during the lunch hour. Two older boys had decided that they were going to beat up my best friend, who, although younger, was unusually strong for his age, but never a bully. The teacher came out, and seeing the fighting, put an immediate stop to it. There was a severe reprimand, which culminated in a drastic, and in my judgment, poor decision on punishment:We would no longer be able to borrow books from the library.
I was never part of the fight, but the punishment hit me harder than most of the other kids. The banishment from the library lasted for months, and I suffered to such an extent that one night I remember dreaming that I was in a library with shelf after shelf of books, and it made me feel ecstatic. It was the most wonderful dream I had ever had, and, to be frank, it is still the most wonderful dream I have ever had.
As you can see, I feel strongly about libraries. We have a saying in Norway, quoting one of Norway's great writers: “The book shelf is the ladder by which you become the equal of your superior”. I am still using the library in spite of my advanced age. I never attained the promise of becoming an equal to my superior, but all the enjoyment I have gleaned from books still makes it worth it.
I wish I could do more to pay you back for all the enjoyment and learning Madison Public Library has provided for me and to some extent also to my wife. Now our memories are failing, and ill health along with doctor and hospital bills are devouring our monetary assistance we might otherwise be able to provide for the MPL. But, as long as I am able, I hope to continue taking advantage of the treasure we have in books. I also hope to continue with an occasional meager donation. And if there is anything left when we have cashed in our chips, perhaps there may be something for the Library.
Gratefully,
Bjarne Breilid
Thank you for Offering Morningstar!
Customers say:
"I wanted to say a big thank-you for providing the Morningstar investor research tool through the public library. It is a huge, huge benefit to folks like myself who want to get smarter about the whole subject, need reliable and unbiased advice, and can’t afford most investment advising that's out there."
- Jane S., Madison
"I checked the Morningstar service weekly…I liked looking up individual stocks and they would give an excellent analysis, and much information about the stock. I found that they were by and large up-to-date and made their reviews current. I will keep using the service and thank you for getting the service on a trial basis."
- Myron, Madison and Arizona
I Love This Place
Sometimes, you find support when you're not even looking. While setting up the library's Flickr online photo account a few weeks ago, the library's Web Librarian came across this photo of the Central Library and the following testimonial:
I love this place -- a bookish oasis where you can spend hours without spending dollars, where there’s no admission charge, where books are free for the borrowing and you can roam as far as your dreams will take you without ever leaving your seat. It’s the Bernard Schwab Building, the downtown branch of the Madison Public Library. More on my blog in the post Downtown Madison Priorities.
We love it, too! Thanks for your support, Madison Guy.
Library System Appreciated
The public library system is such an integral part of who I am, what I've accomplished, and what I enjoy about the world around me and beyond. There must be hundreds, onto thousands, of people in Madison/Dane County/Wisconsin who have had the same experience. - Norma Denbrook, Madison
Libraries: Never-Failing Spring in the Desert
I believe that building libraries outranks any other one thing that a community can do to benefit its people. It is the never-failing spring in the desert.
- Andrew Carnegie, library philanthropist
Libraries Keep the Past
Without libraries, what have we? We have no past and no future.
- Ray Bradbury, author
