April
is Poetry Month. Have you read your poem today? One of the Friends of the
Leelanau Township Library, Ed Lefson, came around and, with my enthusiastic permission and support, chalked
one on the sidewalk by the bookstore door. He was glad the snow had cleared off
and that we have sunshine instead of rain but told me he had learned many
lessons already about chalk on sidewalks. One has to do with colors. We
observed his first transcription of “Risk,” by Anais Nin, and realized that the
paler color of chalk made a stronger contrast against the cement and showed up
better than the brighter color, so he came back and outlined the first letters in the second color.
This
has been National Library Week, and local librarians and their Friends have been
pulling out all the stops. I should have taken pictures in Leland, where
cookies and other snacks greeted morning patrons. In Northport, the Leelanau Township Library began planning weeks in advance for their poetry month.
Saturday,
April 30, will be the second annual Independent Bookstore Day. Dog Ears Books will
definitely have books of poetry available, as we always do. We are also
featuring the two last Jim Harrison books, Dead Man’s Float (poems) and The
Ancient Minstrel
(three novellas); the new book of Michigan-inspired fiction by L.E. Kimball, Seasonal
Roads;
and a selection of new titles your Northport bookseller thought worthy of
attention.
You
don’t have to wait until April 30 to come visit and shop our new book titles, and you’ll
also want to check out our newly arrived used books section, too (see below).
I wish every day were bookstore day, every week library week, and every month poetry month. Why not?
4 comments:
Why not indeed. These kinds of things were why I enjoyed working in the library so much.
It would be wonderful indeed if everyday were bookstore day!
Now that is something a person does not see every day over on this side of the Bay. We don't exactly have sidewalks in Eastport. Maybe I will trot down to Elk Rapids to ask if Pat will let me chalk a poem on the sidewalk at Stuff 'n' Such. I wonder if I have chalk. Babs has chalk. Babs has every kind of art supply. I will report back.
Gerry, another couple of times people hung poems from trees. That you could do without sidewalks. But I'd love to see a poem on the Stuff 'n' Such sidewalk in Eastport and look forward to your report.
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