Feeling down today? Let Jeremy help. (via @MerBarnes)
I found the ending of a kid’s story in the scrap paper bin at the library (and it took me on a trip down literary memory lane).
This is How I Feel About Poetry
“So when people say that poetry is a luxury, or an option, or for the
educated middle classes, or that it shouldn’t be read at school because
it is irrelevant, or any of the strange and stupid things that are
said about poetry and its place in our lives, I suspect that the
people doing the saying have had things pretty easy. A tough life
needs a tough language - and that is what poetry is. That is what
literature offers - a language powerful enough to say how it is.
It isn’t a hiding place. It is a finding place. “
- from Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? p. 40
Jeanette Winterson, Grove Press, 2011
Last night, we were treated to Lost in the Stacks, a band of librarians playing a set of jazz, rock, pop, and whatever else ya got. Library-lovers in town for the 2012 Public Library Association conference sipped local and craft beers and microbrews, snacked on Tastykakes, Peanut Chews, and soft pretzels while enjoying the spectacular view from the Skyline Terrace of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s historic Central Branch building. Check out my blurry cellphone snapshots of the band rocking out!
My name is Rita Meade, and I’m a children’s librarian at Brooklyn Public Library. This is a picture of me singing with a band called Lost in the Stacks, which is comprised of mostly librarians. We strive to promote libraries through great music (as well as smash the stereotype about “boring” librarians!) I blog about library stuff at http://www.screwydecimal.com and tweet at @ScrewyDecimal.
