I was sitting in my armchair putting stickers on a parcel when my husband told me about the cross-bow attack at Main Street Library. Shocked and sickened, I had difficulty comprehending that such violence could happen in a place of learning, desecrating its peace.
When I visited Main Street branch for my library blog project three months ago, I took pictures of a quilt, an attic window, and a lobby lined with strollers. Now, cognitive dissonance confounds my mind, for even though innocent images like these cannot possibly co-exist with the site of a murder, I am also aware that terrible events do occur in sites that should be safe. The traumatic story behind the patricide is devastating, and I am sad for the witnesses who saw what nobody should ever have to see.
2 replies on “Horror at Main Street Library”
Very well said, Catherine. Whether this was a random act of violence or an intended attack on a specific person, it is horrendous to bring violence into the library — and may reflect the violence affecting all society, like an oil-spill. There was also an knifing attack on a person in a Hamilton library, about a year ago — another desecration. I too pray for everyone touched by this incident. ESJ.
Thank you for your reflections, Ellen. It’s always disturbing to read of such attacks, especially in place that’s usually associated with happiness and self-improvement.