Audre Lorde illustrates her teachers as being very discipline oriented. Such as her catholic school teacher, referred to as "Sister Mary of Perpetual Health," who would swipe them if they where acting out: "A week after I started school she sent a note home to my mother asking her not to dress me in so many layers of clothing because then I couldn't feel the strap on my behind when I was punished". Audre makes it exceptionally clear that she was a very talkative and obnoxious child, who would constantly get in to trouble. She describes her first real learning experience learning to read with her library teacher, saying "My mother was pinching my ear off one bright afternoon, while I lay spreadeagled on the floor of the Children's Room like a furious little brown toad, screaming bloody murder and embarrassing my mother to death" Audre was throwing a temper tantrum when the librarian intervened and called Audre over by offering to read her a story, asking "Would you like to hear a story, little girl?" After listening to the librarian Audre fell in love with books and spent a lot of time learning to read. She took a couple of books home and began to study and admire the texts, "Right then I decided I was going to find out how to do that myself.". The librarian spoke to Audre in a gentle tone without seeming as if she was going to punish her in any way, and this cause Audre to settle down and listen.