London’s Calling: Interview with Charles London

Charles London, 27, an MLS candidate and a New York Public Library trainee on leave to promote his book, One Day the Soldiers Came (HarperPerennial), takes a look at child soldiers and other young survivors of conflicts around the globe.

How did you end up in war zones talking to kids?

It was two in the morning and I was watching TV and saw one of those “Save the Children” ads, and it made me very angry seeing all these wide-eyed children suffering, and you knew nothing about them. I’d heard about this aid organization, Refugees International, and they said, “Hey, why don’t you go on some missions with us?” They sent me off between my junior and senior year in college.

You write about some pretty horrendous events. How did you cope?

I had my moments where I would be overwhelmed by the absolute horror of the world. I remember I was in a refugee camp for Sudanese refugees near the Kenyan-Sudan border. I spent the morning listening to young girl after young girl describe how she had been raped. I was enraged with humanity.

How did librarianship enter the picture?

I didn’t have a master’s degree and was burned out from the aid world. And I thought, “I love books.”