The high walls of writer Andriana Trigiani’s Greenwich Village home are lined with books of all shapes, sizes, and titles. It’s like a small-town library, but without the rectangular reading tables, or the archetypal librarian signaling patrons to keep their voices down.

This library-like setting is Trigiani’s way of paying homage to the librarians and teachers who encouraged her love of reading and writing over the years. Almost every one of her 19 novels contains some reference to librarians, religious sisters, or classroom teachers and the important work they do, especially in small, rural communities.