Rex Libris

I, Librarian
This is just soooo much fun!

Langston Hughes

Oh, what pleasure! Simple and comprehensible! Moving because there is something deeply emotional to say. Six line verse blues poems. Music from the heart's blood. Thank you, thank you, Langston Hughes. Where do I start? I loved all of them. Some are funny (Morning After) and some are brutal (Song for a Dark Girl), but they're good and they're plain-spoken and meaningful.

iPads 'Stead of Libraries

This was an interesting idea ... close down the public libraries and give the library card holders a free iPad. The contributor says that all the books are then free. Perhaps that's not quite accurate, but even if they were, is it a good idea?

It was from the UK, but I thought about it for our library here in the US. We have about 30,000 users in our county (times $499 for an iPad) which would run us almost $15 million ... for a one-time purchase? That's more than the new library would cost, but perhaps Apple would give us a deal on the massive order. And I imagine a huge run on library cards if holders got a free iPad.

Now, what about on-going costs? The iPad runs on $15/mo. The public library ... oh, that's tougher. We used to get $2 per capita/yr, but now it's about half that. I don't have the figures in front of me, but my 1300 sq ft house contributed $13/yr to the library. It said so on the bill.

And the library comes with human beings you can talk to (if you haven't annoyed us too much) in real time about what book or information you really need. We don't run on batteries or the mains (but cookies help). And we have printers and a fax machine. Try to run that off your iPad.

Nice try, but until these devices and their support get cheaper, the good ole fashioned library is still a better deal.

Hart Crane

I chose the Rip Van Winkle section from The Bridge for no real good reason. It's sad when a poet has to write copious notes about his own work to make it understandable. I found Walt Whitman's description of America much easier to follow. Rip Van Winkle carries happy childhood memories for me, so I risked having it ruined. But the mention of hurrying off to school with Pizarro and Cortes reminded me of my sister's favorite school poem: "Where we walk to school each day/Indian children used to play." And we are off on a time travel into Crane's past where lilacs provide a switch for his father to whip him and he recalls a fleeting smile from his mother that was never shared with him. Yikes! The Catskill daisy chain in May that is now Broadway was nice. Bits of this make you think Crane has potential, but wading through the whole of The Bridge is just too much of it.

Note of shameless self-promotion: My husband's last cd, Back In the Day, used Rip van Winkle as a theme. Buy it here!