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Howdy, Campers!
Happy Poetry Friday! The link to today's PF host is below.
This round, we at TeachingAuthors have decided to trot out the topic, Ways I Use the Library, and I'm the first to saddle up. My horse is a little rebellious today, so I'm going to change the topic slightly to: Reasons I Love My Library.
How do I love libraries? Let me conjure up memories:
The word library
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sends me back to Franklin Elementary School and its smoky-voiced librarian, Mrs. Orbach. I will always be grateful to her for breaking the rules and letting me check out
The Complete Sherlock Holmes 13 times.
The word
library stands me next to my mother, choosing
Wind, Sand and Stars for me as if she were sharing an important secret from her childhood. This sacred act in the Yuba City, California library is tied to that cool oasis from Yuba City’s heat—the downstairs rooms, dark walls painted during the WPA…and that good book-composty smell.
I love my library for a raft of reasons, but I especially love libraries (1) as a quiet place to write without holing up in my house, and (2) because they hold a treasure trove of audiobooks. Joy, joy, joy--audiobooks!
I love being read to. I'm probably an audio learner.
I remember Mom cracking up as she read to us from
Kids Say the Darndest Things,
Archie & Mehitabel, The Joys of Yiddish, Catcher in the Rye, and any stories by Thurber, Dorothy Parker, Mark Twain and Molly Ivins. My teacher and mentor, poet Myra Cohn Livingston, always set aside time in class to read poetry. Nothing was required of us. Listen. Absorb. Enjoy.
These days, the word library means a place I go to write. I like being surrounded by books and by quiet bookpeople working and reading. A true Southern California commuter, when I walk back to my car, my arms are full of audiobooks, to sustain me on my long drives to my writing group and to UCLA. ( In one
just-before-summer post, I recommend three audiobooks...and today I'd add Deborah Wiles'
Each Little Bird That Sings to that trio--all from my lovely local library.)
Here's a library poem from my
2011 Poetry Month blog:
The story behind the poem: I was in the library, and as the librarian waved her wand over an audiobook, I heard it click…I began wondering how many sounds there were in a library…including the sounds a book’s story makes in one’s head.
IT’S NOT QUIET IN THE LIBRARYby April Halprin Wayland
The electric door is opening, it sucks in outside air.A carpet rubs as a patron sits down on his chosen chair.
The blonde librarian waves her wand—I can hear it whisper-clicksix times as it moves back and forth o’er six non-fiction picks.
There are sounds that bounce around the rows of all the Y.A. booksif you listen closely you can hear folks’ irritated looks
at that oops-he-forgot-to-turn-off-his-cell’s rock ‘n rolling ringwhile on this page I hear the voice of Martin Luther King:
and as I read, “I have a dream” reverberates in my headnear Charlotte, who is loudly spinning words into her web.
There are sounds around this building, there are sounds in books like these.It’s not quiet in the library and that’s okay by me.
(c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reservedIt’s your turn. Take your notebook to a park or a restaurant or a school or the beach and write down the sounds. It may help to close your eyes to hear them. Select the most interesting; write a poem.
The host of Poetry Friday is our beloved Author Amok,
Laura Shovan ~ thank you, Laura!
September, National Library Card Sign-Up Month, is almost over, but if you're still looking for a good book to share, here are two new ones:
- Kohara, Kazuno. 2014. The Midnight Library. New York: Roaring Brook.
By the time this month is over, I will have visited thirteen kindergarten and four preschool classrooms to promote
Library Card Sign-Up Month.
It doesn't matter what other books I have in my bag. When kids see
The Midnight Library, it's the one they want to hear! Apart from Kazuno Kohara's eye-catching linocut illustrations in three colors, here's why I like it:
- It features a library that's open all night long. I wouldn't want to work there, but it makes for a really good story!
- It highlights the fact that libraries are adaptable. The squirrel band needs to practice some new songs for an upcoming concert? No problem! The library has an activity room they can use.
- It features one of a librarian's favorite activities - reading stories. Wolf is crying because her book is sad? No worries! The librarian reads it with her. It has a happy ending!
- It's absolutely perfect for Library Card Sign-Up Month! Tortoise can't finish that 500-page book before the library closes at sunrise? A library card is what he needs!
- Becker, Bonny. 2014. A Library Book for Bear. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton.
I've loved the
Bear and Mouse series ever since it came out, and while this one is not my favorite (I still love
A Visitor for Bear best!), it's a good addition to your collection of library-themed books. You really can't go wrong with Bear and Mouse.
Building Creative Bridges has an insightful recap of Stan Lee’s talk at the American Library Association’s annual conference.
The most hyperbolic quote?
He and his colleagues, for example, prepared materials teaching soldiers how to disassemble and reassemble guns: “We were able to increase the speed of the training by about 30%…I never told you, but I practically won the war [single-handedly]… Everybody knew how a gun works because of me!” he said with the obvious sense of hyperbole that made his presentation so engaging.
Yet Lee is a master of talking and engaging:
But what was most striking to me was the example he set for all of us as trainer-teacher-learners. Regardless of how serious he allowed himself to become in responding to questions during the presentation, he routinely and continually peppered his comments with amusing asides and the sort of self-effacing comments that made us feel as if we were insiders—partners rather than observers in the presentation.
Also announced last week…
This September, Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four, will encourage children to get the most important school supply of all: a library card.
As the Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign-up Month, Lee has donated his image to a print and digital public service announcement (PSA). ALA will place the PSA in magazines and on websites to remind parents and educators that a library card is a key tool in achieving academic success.
I do hope that Marvel has licensed an image for library card usage.
Many years ago, in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, the Brooklyn Public Library offered a limited edition Elmo library card which was extremely successful.
Marvel, if you’re reading this… this would be an excellent tie-in with your 75th anniversary celebrations this fall! Print up some comics… maybe a reprint from Spidey Super Stories, a new story about Peter visiting the library… perhaps an exhibition at the New York Public Library…
Happy Friday, blog-readers!
Many of you probably already know that this is Library Card Sign-up Month. Many of you probably already have a library card, work at a library, or frequent a library.
Big confession time.
I've had a library card for most of my life. As a kid, I spent a ton of time in the library, both at school and at the public library. But around the time I got an income of my own, I stopped going to the library. It didn't seem convenient when I could just pop into a bookstore or order something online. The ease of buying cheap used books online made my habit even worse. I'd still buy the expensive hardcover when it was one of my favorite authors, but I never went to the library.
My husband and I have over a thousand books, which makes sense since he's a writer and I'm an editor. But we also live in a house that's less than a thousand square feet. You do the math. We have boxes and boxes and boxes of books stacked in the basement. We have books stuffed on top of books on the shelves upstairs. Our bedroom's bookshelf has books stacked three books deep. And our 2-year-old son seems to have inherited our problem--his books don't fit on his dedicated shelves.
Enter the library. We have a great library in our neighborhood of St. Paul. They have a children's storytime, lots of computers, friendly staff. I've had a library card here since we bought our house, but I hardly ever use it. Besides, though the library is great, the collection is fairly small. Easier to just order it online, right? Then I realized that I'd been missing the point. In the amount of time it takes to find a cheap used book online and buy it, I can request the same book at the library, have it delivered from another branch (if necessary), and walk through my cute neighborhood to pick it up. I was definitely patting myself on the back for that display of genius until I realized that everyone else already knew to do that.
So here's to library cards. For letting me try new authors and old favorites without committing to an investment of space and money. Let's face it--I'm still going to buy books. Obviously I'm going to continue to buy books. I work in publishing. I love books. But now I'll be able to justify my purchases even more and seek out even more new authors. Yay for library cards! I'm just sorry I'm so late to the party. Apparently I should behave more like my ten-year-old self more often.
Have a happy holiday weekend, and bring on autumn--I've got a ton of books waiting to be read.
more soon!
-Beth
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month. To celebrate, the American Library Association has provided a list of 52 Ways to Use Your Library Card. Number one on the list is to get to know your librarian, which strikes me as an excellent idea. Librarians are among the most knowledgeable and helpful people I know.
I make regular trips to the library, both for work and for entertainment. I enjoy searching the catalog online, reserving books from other libraries in the system, and picking them up at my local library. Since I discovered caterpillars on the milkweed plants in our yard this summer, I've been researching monarch butterflies, and I've checked out lots of books.
I found a few more intriguing uses for a library card.
22. Trek to another planet in a Sci-Fi novel.
30. See a new art exhibit.
52. Read a newspaper from another country.
A couple more practical ideas on the list also appealed to me.
32. Find a new recipe. Right now, the garden is providing us with plenty of tomatoes and other fresh vegetables. The library has a huge selection of cookbooks to browse through and experiment with. I enjoy cooking, and I could use some new ideas.
45. Learn about home improvement. After our sons left for college, we emptied out one bedroom, hung drywall to cover the ugly old ceiling, mudded the joints (a process I found surprisingly similar to frosting a layer cake except with my fingers), sanded, installed crown molding, and started painting. I'm enjoying the chance to spend time together (school starts soon!), even during our many trips to the hardware store. Next we plan to install new sliding closet doors.
After we finish this project, I'll have to try out some new recipes. Maybe I'll invite a librarian for dinner.
JoAnn Early Macken
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i like the idea that Marvel’s permission would be required to put Stan Lee’s face on a library card.
Unintentionally (I presume) hilarious title. Stan Lee con, indeed.
Spider-Man was featured on a display here, so I expect they’ll use him instead of Stan Lee.
Great suggestion, Torsten!
I was not able to attend Mr. Lee’s panel but from all I’ve read and seen, he was pitch perfect. Of course there’s going to be some hype, Stan is a show all by him self and when he engages, as he did with the thundering crowd of librarians, he was an excellent key note speaker.
To me, having Stan Lee as a keynote speaker for the biggest library convention in the world is a sign of true comics and library convergence.
Thanks for the show Stan!
Agreed, great ideas Torsten!