Monday, April 12, 2010

National Poetry Month AND National Library Week

April is National Poetry Month and the week of April 12th through April 17th is National Library Week. What better way to celebrate both than with some poems about libraries! In fact, I have found two very good, very interesting poems about libraries.

Library by Valerie Worth is from the book All the Small Poems and Fourteen More.

No need even
to take out
a book: only
go inside
and savor
the heady
dry breath of
ink and paper,
or stand and
listen to the
silent twitter
of a billion
tiny busy
black words.

The second poem is entitled My First Memory (of Librarians) by author and sometime poet Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni conjures up an image of a long-ago library, with an actual card catalog and green bankers’ lights. The welcoming smile on a librarians’ face is something we hope you see at our library often!

This is my first memory:
A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky wood floor
A line of green shades – bankers’ lights down the center
Heavy oak chairs that were too low or maybe I was simply
too short
for me to sit in and read
So my first book was always big.

In the foyer up four steps a semi-circle desk presided
To the left side the card catalogue
On the right newspapers draped over what looked like a quilt rack
Magazines face out from the wall.

The welcoming smile of my librarian
The anticipation in my heart
All those books – another world – just waiting
At my fingertips.


Come in to the library this week and help us celebrate National Library Week and National Poetry Month by picking up a book of poetry. Meg

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