This past Saturday we catered the Denver Public Library’s annual fundraiser, The Booklover’s Ball, for the fourteenth year.  This event is often mentioned when I ask our team about their favorite events that we cater, which is interesting because it’s one of the most difficult and logistically challenging events we do each year.  It typically takes place in the library with six different dining areas that have different guest counts, themes, and decor.  We cook all of the food for 700 guests on the loading docks in the basement of the building, and then bring it up to six satellite kitchens for the respective dining areas that are spread out among the stacks of books and across three floors of the library.  We then have to serve everyone at the same time so they can all come back downstairs for drinks and dancing.  It’s so easy to get lost that we use color coded wristbands for our team members to ensure they get to the right section for service.  And on top of that, everything must get cleared out of the library that evening so it can open the next morning to the public, leaving our team there until the wee hours of the night.

The obvious question is, why would an event that is so difficult be a favorite among our team to work?  The answer is two-fold.  The first is the misconception that we need to make work easy.  When you think about the things in life that you are most proud of accomplishing, they aren’t things that were easy to complete.  The things we are most proud of usually come with struggles, challenges, and tests along the way.  They push our limits and require us to stretch beyond what we may have thought was possible.  And once we get to the other side, we get to reflect on what we were able to overcome and wear it as a badge of honor as we share our triumph with the people we love and care about.  At the extreme, it is why people choose to run marathons, to study for years to get a PHD or to become Navy Seals.  And on an everyday level, it is the challenges that stimulate our minds and bodies and keep us engaged in the work we do. Due to major renovations, this year’s Booklover’s Ball took place at another location, but our team was all buzzing with excitement about the possibility of being back at the Library next year.

The second reason this event is so special is because of who it is for.  Libraries are inherently designed for everyone.  Open to the public and free to use, they provide far more than just access to books.  Libraries are places where people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, beliefs, and education levels go to learn, to be inspired, to study or simply get away.  The Denver Public Library specifically provides services that help people get jobs, learn second languages, research their past, and even record their own music.  They have streaming services in Spanish, tutoring services for K-12 students, and maker spaces with 3D printers.  Did we mention cultural inclusivity services, healthy food kids snack program, internet tables? And of course they provide access to thousands of books, eBooks, audio books, songs, movies, magazines, newspapers and research papers. [View the impressive list]

These two points embody the essence of “MIBE.”  Libraries are places that can help us grow.  Incredible resources expand our horizons and give us the confidence to take on ambitious goals! And those goals in turn give us direction and a reason for consistent, steady improvement.  A desire to make it better every day pushes us away from our comfort zone and toward challenges that add richness and pride to the lives we lead.  As we look to improve our own skills, grow our knowledge, and broaden our perspective, we can better prepare ourselves for the tests of the future by leaning on our local libraries to help us get there.