Maxine writes for the Irish Times about her love of libraries, and the woman who inspired her.
Long live our librarians: an ode to Mrs Veal
She came to be in my life some time around my 11th year when I’d grown accustomed to the teasing I neither understood, nor accepted. “Boffin!”, “Four eyes!” and “Nerd!”, said the kids at school. Fingers stretching sideways their mean eyes behind my back.