Tag: Libraries

BELATED HAPPY NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK! April 23-29.

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Linda Baie at Teacherdance HERE . Stop by and see what she has for us today. Thank you, Linda!

I enjoyed National Poetry Month so much that I missed National Library week from April 23-29. I love that libraries have always been safe places.

Like many others, I credit my love of books and even much of my happiness when I was young, to both the sense of peace and excitement I found in stories from the library, fiction and non-fiction.

The library I went to when I was a child

I wrote a poem this week thinking of the childhood friend who I knew when I was about seven. I have no idea where she is now, and she has no idea, I’m sure, how grateful I am to her. 

MY BOOK FRIEND

Jackie, my friend who lived next door.
taught me well what books were for.

She had no sisters, or brothers, too,
but lots of games, more than a few.

On Saturday we sat and read
the stack of books piled on her bed.

“Come to the library,” she said one day
and once I did, I longed to stay.

So many friends I found in books,
with different lives, different looks.

Cover to cover, we thought to see
who we could grow up to be.

©Janice Scully 2023 (DRAFT)

This week I got two new books in the mail, MONSTERVILLE by Laura Shovan, Illustrated. by Michael Rothenberg,

and FATHER GOOSE: Treasury of poetry, by Charles Ghigna, Illustrated. by Sara Brezzi.

Can’t wait to read them.

I have some reading to do. I’m waiting for this book by my friend, Ellen Ramsey, illustrated by MacKenzie Haley:

It will arrive in July. I hope they all will be available in libraries. Have a great weekend, Everyone. Thank you Linda for hosting Poetry Friday.

MY CARNEGIE LIBRARY

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by Tricia Here. Thank you, Tricia, for hosting.

Driving back to Syracuse from the Jersey Shore Friday afternoon of Labor Day weekend, I visited the town where I went to school, Port Jervis, on the Delaware River. I lived three miles away in the small town of Sparrowbush.

I hadn’t been to either place for several years and drove through town to see the Carnegie Library where I had discovered books. What was it like now? I wondered. On the outside it looked exactly the same.

Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish American capitalist who made his fortune in steel, felt the rich had a moral obligation to distribute money in ways that help the common man. He spent 350 million, which was a large portion of his wealth, on philanthropy. He helped build 2,500 public libraries world wide and much more, including Carnegie Hall. You can read more about Andrew Carnegie here.

THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY IN PORT JERVIS, NY

Inside my Carnegie Library, it seemed the front desk was frozen in time, unchanged in fifty years. Two librarians were behind it, and the library was otherwise empty that Friday afternoon. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures inside because I think the librarians sensed my disappointment at seeing the drab, and frankly, threadbare carpet and the furniture they claimed with pride was “original.” Their funding is through the school and I sensed there is little money available for frills.

Yet, thanks to them, there was an exhibit on Stephen Crane that included a walking tour they were enthusiastic to share. I now know that author Stephen Crane lived in Port Jervis for many years. In fact his relationships with Civil War Veterans there in the 1880’s inspired THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, which I loved as an adult. It turns out that much of his other writing is loosely based on people and places in Port Jervis. I didn’t have time to take the walking tour, so maybe I’ll have to return. I also hope to read more of Stephen Crane’s writing. Maybe I’ll recognize Port Jervis in his lines.

STEPHEN CRANE

Here’s a quote I found on the above link. (Hartwood was a nearby town, I think.)

“My idea is to come finally to live at Port Jervis or

 Hartwood. I am a wanderer now and I must see enough

but – afterwards – I think of P.J. and Hartwood.”

Stephen Crane’s October 29, 1897 letter from London, England, to his brother William in Port Jervis, New York.   

As my husband and I had arrived in to Port Jervis as school had just let out. Busses were lining up. Middle school kids were laughing and chatting on sidewalks. I wondered if any would stop at the library. I hoped so.

IF NOT FOR THE LIBRARY AND BOOKS

We’d know only what we are told

in school

at home

what others think we should know.

Beware of libraries!

©Janice Scully 2021