Poetry Friday

It's Friday and we are sitting on the edge of a snow storm. Nothing major but after the winter we've had, even the slightest snow feels like a betrayal. I have no reason to complain though. It's been the best January ever. Warm and dry. I've been in heaven.

Even with the nice weather I've been hibernating. I go home and make tea and curl up on the sofa to read. I have a stack of books at home from the library that I'm planning to get through this weekend. I can't seem to leave the library without at least a dozen. I'm reading at a frantic rate. It's been a blissful winter so far.

And today I stumbled on a poem that makes me smile. I figured I would share. It's right up my alley for obvious reasons.

My First Memory (of Librarians)
by Nikki Giovanni

This is my first memory:
A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky wood floor
A line of green shades--banker's lightes--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.

Library Longing

I went to an author's reading last night at one of the newly remodeled local libraries in town. I went early so I could wander at my leisure and check out the new structure of the library. I walked in and instantly started for the nonfiction section. It's become my favorite section lately. And I did what I always do. I wandered down each of the rows touching the spines and seeing what caught my eye. I picked up a couple of books that interested me. I know they have a card catalog on the computer but I prefer a serendipitous way of finding books.

During all of this time, I hardly saw another person. I wandered alone looking at books. And I was struck by how happy I was. I was at peace and contented. I couldn't think of a single place I would rather be or a single thing that I should be doing. And this morning I realized what that means. I was in my element. I was exactly where I should be. It doesn't have to be that library, or even one in this city. But I'm fated to be in a library. It is where I am the happiest. And that was a beautiful thing.

Ordo Bibliotheca

Librarians have an image problem. Picture a librarian. I can guarantee that the image you have in your head is a matronly woman, wearing glasses, with a bun, and a pinched look on her face. You will imagine her walking between dusty shelves, shushing patrons, and expounding on the value of the card catalog. That image is starting to change for some people but for a many it is still the idea they have. I should know. I have the librarian action figure with her advanced shushing action. That image has changed a lot in the last couple years though. The next generation of librarians is young, hip, often tattooed, and very technological. 

So when I found Rex Libris I knew that I had to share this. Rex is a librarian but he is not either a matronly woman or a hip tattooed young adult. Instead what he is an action hero. In comic book form. Rex Libris is the brain child of James Turner. He saves the world one book at a time. And he is utterly fun. 

Rex is a librarian at the Middleton Public Library. Middleton is not any ordinary library, it lays on one of the most powerful ley lines in the universe. This causes literary characters to occasionally pop out of books and overrun the library. It also allows the library to hold some of the most important books in the universe. And when they go overdue it is Rex's job to get them back. Normally he starts with friendly calls, then moves on to letters, and then he crosses the galaxy to bust heads and get books back. The first book, I Librarian, starts with Rex fighting a demonic samurai who doesn't want to get a library card to check things out. In the middle of the fight he grabs a book on demons to read up on how to defeat them. It's that type of humor. 

Turner has created the idea of the Ordo Bibliotheca, a secret society of librarians who have used the cover of docile do-gooders, to hide their true purpose of preserving all the knowledge of the world. As a librarian I've seen the Noah Wylie film which is about a librarian saving the world. But there is a huge difference between Wylie's librarian and Rex Libris. While Wylie played the character as a wussy character who was afraid of a fight but is dragged into it, Rex is a lot more willing to get his hands dirty. Circe (yes based on the ancient sorcerous) is a standard matronly older librarian, when she's not turning unruly patrons into pigs. But she's more than happy to grab a sawed off shotgun to preserve the peace against Viking invasion. 

Perhaps these books are just so fun because they poke fun at the stereotypes of librarians. Rex may talk like a gangster, he may be well skilled with a gun, and he may be willing to take on all the baddies around the galaxy, but it's all in the name of books. An action figure I can get behind. Now I'll just have to get the t-shirt. And you should check out the comic. 

Dewey

Last night my plan had been to relax a little and start the world of warcraft expansion. Of course life is what happens when you are making other plans. About 5:30 my mother calls and want to know if I will go to an author reading with her. At 6:30. So I grab a quick bite to eat, check in on my neighbors cat (who I'm catsitting), and head out the door. The reading is at one of the local libraries.

I get to the building about 10 minutes before the reading is to start to realize that there is hardly a parking space to be had. People are walking some decent distances through the cold rain to come hear this author. Now this library's reading room is not big. I've been in there for several readings and there are normally only thirty or so chairs set up. My mom, dad, and I walk in the door to see that it is literally standing room only. And that standing room is out in the library's lobby. To make a long story short, we spent 30 minutes standing in the lobby listening to the author speak but not able to see her. There were probably 150 people there.

I'm interested in this author partly because she's a librarian. Actually she's the librarian in Spencer, Iowa who one morning found a cat that someone had dropped in the book drop. She managed to talk the city council into letting her keep the cat, who lived for 19 years in the Spencer library. Everyday the cat would wander the stacks, greeting people, cheering people up, and generally finding laps to sleep in. I'm sure for the non-cat lovers this was hell but for people like me, this would have been perfect. When the cat past away, the librarian Vicki Myron was approached by a number of publishers with money to publish the cat's story. The book is currently a best seller and will be made into a movie. Myron announced last night the Meryl Streep will be playing her in the upcoming movie.

The discussion (it wasn't really a reading) was very good and Vicki Myron was enjoyable to listen to. I was not surprised by the number of people who showed up but I wish they would have moved the reading out into the general library area. There were a lot of people who know of this cat before the book was even published. This cat was actually known across the country. When he died, the obituary for Dewey Readmore Books was run in over 200 newspapers. That is some serious notoriety for a cat.

Picture of Dewey courtesy of the Spencer Library

The Animal Rescue League had set up a booth. I was pleased to see the number of people there who gave to the ARL and helped to support the library. This was a very successful event for them. Even without having read the book (I just got a copy last night) I'm sure it will be a good story. Cats and librarians, right up my alley. And more than anything reminds me why I like librarians. I love the idea of a cat in the library. I love that the librarian decided to take him in that cold January day. I love that people have helped support the library and the cat because of it. What a great story. I hope it inspires others.