Wednesday night, I attended the Brooklyn Public Library’s Centennial Gala. It was incredible. There were hundreds of Brooklynites who were full of excitement and praise in celebrating 100 years of service. Everyone who was there talked about their memories of the library and how it helped them in their lives. Let me tell you about mine.

When I was younger, I loved the library because they had such a huge collection of books about everything. I used to just stand and stare in amazement at the amount of books and the vast variety of subjects in them. One of my favorite subjects has always been sharks. For as long as I can remember, they have always fascinated me. I wanted to know as much as I could about these creatures. How they live, what they eat, how they hunt their prey. So many questions and no answers. Today, you can find these answers by turning on the television and watching The Discovery Channel, but when I was growing up, the only way to “explore your world” was at the library, so that’s what I did.

After school or on the weekends, I would go to the Avenue J and East 16th Street branch of the library and look for books about sharks. Of course, they had many. So I would sit at the desk and look at the books. The books contained some great pictures and so many facts about sharks. If I found a page that contained some great information, I would go to the copy machine and make a copy. I remember how the copy machine smelled and how the copies were slightly grayish because I could never get the book flat enough to copy it right.

Yes, libraries when I grew up were great places to learn. But today’s libraries are like a whole new world. They now rent videos and CDs; they have Internet access and computers for people to use. They have a more diverse cultural section than ever before and are improving every branch in their system. For example, the branch by my house is on Nostrand Avenue and Avenue W. The branch is being completely renovated and I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s done.

Pete Hamill once told me that I should go into a library and consume books as if they were food – I’m hungry.