The Bike and the Book

When I was introduced to Philippe Melot, I thought I was going to hear a fascinating tale of his trip across the United States by bicycle. As chatted leisurely I became aware that, to paraphrase Lance Armstrong, it was not "about the bike". Rather, Phillipe wanted to tell me of his experiences in the vast panorama that is this country.
He was part of a group of 35 well-seasoned, long-distance athletes, all of whom wanted to see America "by the seat of their pants", literally. They had made a wide variety of arrangements for sleeping, eating and communicating with their families, but didn't realize the impact that these were to have on their overall experience. Indeed it was the daily offering of comforts that had some of the biggest impact on Philippe, particularly.

The two institutions that impressed him the most were schools and libraries. He became quite smitten by the people who reached out to them, offering anything they needed. He kept repeating how both professional and kind the librarians were, hooking them all up with wi fi for their laptops. It's amazing to think that all across the country tiny libraries can offer this world-wide service to residents and strangers alike.

I introduced Philippe to the best-seller "Dewey, the small-town library cat" by Vicki Myron. It is the exact picture of hominess and helpfulness all rolled into one that he had described. He is writing a book which will be much different from this one, but be filled with fascinating American, libraries, and bicyclists.

Philippe will be coming back to Marion this winter to work on his writing. Of course a lot of time will be spent in our library, using our resources, including wi fi! I am hoping he'll join us for an afternoon's get-together and share his experiences with everyone. He told me it was time that Alexis de Toqueville's "Democracy in America" was updated. I couldn't agree more!