by Anthony Y., 15
The Asbury Park Library is a vibrant garden of its own, filled to the brim with art from the kids who visit and remnant dinosaurs from summer reading. Most important are the fruits that the library creates – as Lex puts it, “every day there is at least one heartwarming moment, if not multiple.”
Lex Bose is one of the caretakers at the Asbury Park Library, and throughout our interview, I could clearly see this position. They were both riveting and gentle, smiling kindly as they shared future ideas with me and even asked me to share some of my stories. In a short hour, I had learned how transformative life can be if you let connections and opportunities sprout from the loamy soil of time.
As a library associate, Lex helps operate many of the library’s services. Whether it be by helping run programs such as the seed and mutual aid library or by helping create new ones—such as a novel club for teens—I could see that Lex always takes on these tasks with undeniable warmth.
All this effort in fostering others has given them deeper insight into the concept of community through small, wholesome moments in the library.
“Those heartwarming things I see every day,” Lex would tell me, eyes full of dedication, “really do make me aware of how lucky I am to be able to work in this space, and how important community connection is.”
Lex’s affinity for cultivating a successful garden began at an early age, when they developed an inspiration that ultimately formed who they are today. Lex remembers how they lived in the emerald nest of a rural town – a book-filled childhood full of inspirational figures, such as the inquisitive Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. They also remember their family’s fantastic garden, which was filled to the brim with plants and even an apple tree. Lex notes how it was nice to see plants that both look good and can nourish you.
When Lex decided to move to New Jersey, they learned two things that would shape their career. One was a love for green spaces that they only realized after leaving them behind in rural England. The other was about how to grow a community.
“It feels like we’re all responsible for community connection,” Lex would tell me, stressing how a successful community grows from the collaboration between multiple groups.
When Lex first arrived in New Jersey, they worked in many hospitality jobs and met many people. But Lex always knew they wanted to work with books, which is what inspired them to apply for Asbury Park’s library assistant position. As a library assistant, Lex was able to do a lot of community work and outreach, further developing their beliefs about how to foster a community.
Currently, Lex helps oversee the mutual aid and seed library sections, as well as many other clubs in the library.
Lex is particularly fond of the seed library, calling it “a really good team effort.” The idea formed from a mixture of learning from what other libraries were doing and attending a webinar. Seeds are obtained through a collaboration with a local farm and then laid out at the “always-open” seed library – free for anyone to take.
As Lex remarks, “It’s not about the amount of seeds that go out. It’s about how the seeds are used, and if people recommend their friends to come.”
Additionally, Lex also enjoys running a junior graphic novel club. The club started when Lex noticed that teenagers were all reading graphic novels—Lex saw this as an opportunity to forge connections through discussions of art. Their favorite novel discussed in the club is Anne of Green Gables, since it’s a classic that Lex hasn’t read before.
Lex eagerly tells me that 8- to 9-year-olds were the ones who told them the story. “Every discussion is just nice,” they summarize.
Lex also explained their work at the mutual aid library to me. As with the seed library, items are procured through both donations from local crafters and the library’s own purchases. Developed to cater to patrons’ needs, there is even a token system to make collecting items easier.
Near the end of our interview, Lex compares their community growth with that of the library’s garden. The garden started as all gardens do, humble yet beautiful in nature. Then, one of Lex’s coworkers got a birdbath, and a birdhouse that films the birds soon followed. Lex informs me that they even plan to create a list of all the birds that visit the library someday.
“It’s like watching the work we do – a small idea expanding outwards [through the community] – but on a smaller scale,” Lex informs me, explaining how the library’s outreach and collaboration within the community form an organic growth of connections, similar to that of the library’s own garden.
When I asked Lex about what inspires their nurturing spirit, Lex told me that it’s “the only way to be. We’re all connected; we all have a responsibility to look after another… if we all did this, things would be a lot easier.”
Just as Lex grows a garden of community connection, we, too, should grow our connections like roots, stretching and unraveling, eventually leading hand in hand with everyone else. Like organisms in symbiosis, we are strongest when we are together.
Bridge Ink 