ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries October 1989 / 811 Humor and creativity: Poetry about libraries By Norman D. Stevens Director The Molesworth Institute L ibrary po etry is surely a term th a t can best be d escrib ed as th e ideal oxymoron. An exhaustive Boolean search, using th e term s “library” and p o ­ etry,” in virtually every online public access catalog in major American academ ic libraries, online data­ bases, and even all CD -ROM products has failed to tu rn up a single a p p ro p riate m atch for those two distinctlyunrelated term s. T here w ere an u m b er of false leads th a t tu rn e d out invariably to be only articles or books about poem s and poetry in librar­ ies not about libraries. A tru e m atch (e.g., poem s and p oetry about libraries) may be an example of th e only two term s not rep re se n te d by a single link in any of those sophisticated searching systems. That is not to say th at th ere is not a large quantity o f w hat passes— or m ore accurately barely slips by— as “library poetry.” T hat can, however, best be described as som ething to do with libraries th a t is p rin te d in a form th a t appears at first glance to be poetry. U pon closer exam ination such pieces in ­ variably tu rn out to be m erely verse, jingles, or m ore often doggerel; and that is only if one is being extrem ely charitable. Libraries may sustain poets b u t they seldom inspire th em to “place th e best words in the best ord er,” as Coleridge p u t it, to sing our praises. Perhaps only Karl Shapiro’s poem “L ibraries” (“L ibraries, w here one takes on th e smell of books, stale and attractive. Service with no motive, sim ple as th e U.S. M ail....” [Collected Poems 1940-1978, p. 209]) can be said to be a recognized poem about libraries by a m ajor poet. O ther pieces, such as Calvin Trillin’s recent paean, “T he M an W ho Saved th e Library: An O de to Vartan G regorian,” that appeared in th e N ew York Times Book Review , are simply m ore doggerel (“... And, finishing a fo u rteen -h o u r day/G regorian was often h eard to say/‘H ey look— I ’m having fun. I ’m having a blast.’/H e was— presiding over this vast cast....”). U tterly reje cte d by all m ajor, and even m ost minor, poets, librarians have had to turn to creating th eir own verse to celebrate th eir own accom plish­ m ents; m ost o f w hat we have c h u rn e d out is far worse than anything Trillin could have concocted. T he largest pro p o rtio n o f o ur locally p ro d u ced po etry may be charitably d escribed as bad p oetry and, luckily, seldom sees th e light of day although first th e photocopy m achine and now th e personal c o m p u te r have m ade its dissem ination a g rea ter hazard to our m ental health than ever before. Local library p o e try is m ost often p ro d u ce d by th e resi­ d e n t poet, and/or social organizer, on holidays— w hen o u r guard is down— o r m ost often w hen a beloved staff m em b e r is leaving e ith e r to accept a position elsew here— w here she may hope to es­ cape such creations in th e fu tu re — or to retire to a tra n q u il life free from w ell-m eaning colleagues. Those creations are most often adaptations or paro­ dies o f well-known poem s, or songs, for which w ords th o u g h t to fit th e rhym e schem e and/or m usic and alleged to be appropriate for th e occa­ sion have b e e n supplied. My research reveals that th ere are m ore library versions of “A Visit from St. N icholas” (closely followed by “T he Twelve Days of C hristm as”) than of any oth er poem and that the m ajority of those deal with th e flaws in a particular library’s technical services operations (“Twas the night before C hristm as and all through T S,/N ot a Feeling funny? W here do we go from h e re ? W hy d o n ’t you tell me. Virtually every possible topic I have suggested, w ith th e possible exception o f th e d rea d e d staff refrigerator, th a t I m ight com ­ m e n t on, I have now c o m m en ted on. Your thoughts on possible topics for fu tu re pieces, preferab ly accom panied by appropriate ex­ am ples, w ould be m ost w elcom e. T hey m ight even eventually result in a piece on your favor­ ite subject th a t includes m ention o f your work or th at of your colleagues. Even if you d on’t r e ­ spond, though, I have am ple m aterial on hand, and m ore drifts in regularly, for m e to concoct some additional pieces on other oddities of con­ tem p o rary academ ic librarianship. Still keep those cards and lette rs com ing to N orm an D. Stevens, 143 H anks Hill Road, Storrs, CT 06268. 812 / C & RL News c re a tu r e was stirrin g , th e p lac e was a m ess./T h e backlogs w e re p ile d in n u m b e rs so g re a t,/W e fe a re d th a t th e floors w o u ld b e c ra c k e d by th e ir w e ig h t....” from “A T e c h Service C h ris tm a s ” by A lan A rnold, first p u b lis h e d in The L ib r a r y M use fro m th e U n iv e rsity o f M issouri L ibrary). E v e n th o se lib rary “p o e m s ” th a t se em a p t a n d skillfully c ra fte d w h e n first h e a rd at a party, especially w hen so m e o f us have h a d a b it to o m u ch o f th e w in e p u n c h , seld o m pass th e te s t o f tim e e v e n w h e n m e a s u re d by th e sim ple 2 4 -h o u r reflec tiv e exam i­ nation. T h e y are all soon happily forgotten, even by th e ir creator. T h e re are, o f course, a few exceptions. L ibraries have h a d a lo n g h isto ry o f p ro v id in g s h e lte r a n d som etim es em p lo y m e n t for e c c e n tric a n d creative souls an d , from tim e to tim e , o n e o f th o se souls e m e rg e s as a p o e t w h o p ro d u c e s o n e o r m o re p o e m s th a t a re w e ll-c ra fte d , e n te rta in in g , a n d w o rth re m e m b e rin g a n d rec itin g . H isto rica lly it seem s to have b e e n th e large city p u b lic library th a t was m o st h o s p ita b le to such c re a tiv e p e rs o n s as re p re s e n te d , for exam ple, by W illiam F itc h Sm yth (1 8 5 7 -1 9 4 0 ), w ho w o rk e d fo r m an y y ears as an e v e n in g d e sk a tte n d a n t in th e C le v e la n d P u b lic L ib ra ry w h e re h e p r e s id e d as th e r e s id e n t p o e t- la u re a te . I n 1910 h e p ro d u c e d a sm all h a n d -le t­ t e r e d p a m p h le t, L ittle L y r ic s f o r L ib ra ria n s, th a t c o n ta in s th e b e s t o f his w ork, in clu d in g “A L ib ra r­ ia n ’s L ife ” (“A lib ra ria n ’s life is th e life fo r m e /F o r t h e r e ’s n o th in g at all to do, you se e ,/B u t to sit at a d e sk a n d re a d n e w boo k s,/A n d a d m ire yo u rself, a n d th in k o f y o u r looks./T o q u e s tio n in g souls o n e can tartly say: T c a n ’t b e b o th e re d w ith you to-day,/ F o r i h aven’t finished this novel. See?’/A lib rarian ’s life is th e life fo r m e .”). In m o re r e c e n t years it a p p e ars as th o u g h academ ic libraries have b e c o m e th e m ore f re q u e n t haven for creative types o fte n in th e fo rm o f o n e -tim e , o r even so m e tim e , stu d e n ts w h o have w a n te d to re m a in in th e ac a d e m ic e n v i­ ro n m e n t a n d m ay have jo in e d th e library, o fte n in a s u p p o rt po sitio n , th a t p ro v id es th e m w ith a s e ­ c u re , if n o t lu cra tiv e , living, a c h a n c e to re ta in an affiliation w ith a seat o f learning, and am ple o p p o r­ tu n ity for th e m to exercise th e ir creative talents th at som etim es takes th e form o f p o e try about libraries. M y ap peals for exam ples o f lib rary p o e try , good o r b a d , th a t a p p e a r e d as an a d ju n c t to th e e a rlie r p ie c e s in th is se rie s have b ro u g h t m e, e ith e r d i­ rec tly o r indirectly, a fairly large n u m b e r o f pieces. Som e o f th a t, u n fortunately, has even b e e n c re a te d in res p o n s e to m y m istak e n p lea. M ost o f it is little m o re th a n doggerel a n d deserves to b e fo rg o tten or at least safely b u rie d in m y archives for som e fu tu re h isto ria n o f lib ra ry p o e try w ho m ay b e b ra sh e n o u g h to com pile, b u t n o t p u b lish , th e defin itiv e collectio n o f such stuff. W ith d u e w arning to th e cautious o r tim id re a d e r to cease now, I v e n tu re to offer only a few exam ples o f r e c e n t lib ra ry p o e try th a t se em to have som e m e rit at lea st in so far as any p ie c e o f lib ra ry p o e try can b e said to have m erit. T h e se p ieces, in any case, do p ro v id e us w ith a few chuckles, a sm ile, o r even a m o m e n t o f th o u g h tfu l re fle c tio n . P erh ap s th e m ost fre q u e n t creative use o f library p o e try , in te n tio n a lly h u m o ro u s, is at th e O w en S c ien c e a n d E n g in e e rin g L ib ra ry at W a sh in g to n S tate U niversity w h e re , for a n u m b e r o f years, such efforts have b e e n u se d as a p a r t o f a p la n n e d p u b lic rela tio n s cam paign. E xam ples o f th a t w ork, w hich in c lu d e s su c h tra d itio n a l aim s as m a in ta in in g si­ len ce ("T he s o u n d o f silence w e d e m a n d ./If y ou’re a scholar, you u n d e rs ta n d ./... I f you talk, you w alk./ W e ’ll give no reprieve— /You’ll b e asked to leave.”), can b e fo u n d in E liz a b e th P. R o b e rts ’ article, “W it a n d W isdom in th e L ibrary; o r P u b lic R elatio n s, a N e w T w ist” (P N L A Q u a r te rly 53 (W in te r 1989): 3 1 -3 3 ). In re s p o n s e to m y q u e s t fo r lib ra ry p o e try , th e staff o f th e A cquisitions D e p a rtm e n t at th e U niver­ sity o f Illin o is— th a n k s to som e arm tw istin g by th e ir boss K aren S c h m id t— p r o d u c e d a v e rita b le sp a te o f v e rse th a t was p u b lis h e d in th e ir d e p a r t­ m e n ta l n e w s le tte r. M u ch o f th a t deals, n aturally, w ith th e a rc a n e in n e r w orkings o f academ ic lib ra r­ ies (“T h e title pag e is s a c re d !/E a c h c le rk in th e lib rary knows,/You n e v e r m ark on th e title p a g e ,/It only causes w o e s ....”) a n d b e s t rem a in s w h e re it is. All o f m y b e s t efforts to d a te have tu rn e d u p only tw o serio u s lib ra ry p o e ts , o r at le a st tw o lib rary p o ets w ho deserve to be taken seriously, n o t includ­ ing A lan A rn o ld w ho c o n tin u e s to c h u rn s tu f f o u t (“ ...G u id e y o u r se rv a n t O C L C ,/L e t its w isdom n e ’e r b e s m ite d ./D e liv e r us fro m g re e d y m e n ,/ W h o ’d have its d a ta c o p y rig h te d ,” fro m “A P ra y e r fo r T e c h n ic a l S ervices”) th a t so m e tim e s c a tc h e s o u r fancy. A n ita N o rm a n , o f th e K e a rn e y S ta te C o lleg e L ibrary, is a p o e t w ho w orks in a lib ra ry a n d s o m e ­ tim e s w rite p o e m s th a t d e a l w ith lib ra rie s. H e r p o e try is se rio u s c re a tiv e w o rk th a t speaks to th e re a litie s o f life in th e a c ad e m ic library. O n e o f h e r several lib rary p o em s, “C ollege L ibrary,” is p rin te d b e lo w w ith h e r perm ission. O u r b e s t c o n te m p o ra ry lib ra ry p o e t, th o u g h , m ay w ell b e th e elusive E sm e Peabody, lib rarian at th e H u b e r t W . W o o d b in e L ib ra ry fo r E n ig m a tic S tu d ie s, w hose p o e m s have a p p e a r e d in V a c u u m C le a n e r W o rld , F la tb ea t M ag a zin e, a n d L a d ie s H om e Journal. In an interv iew in th e July 28,1988, issue o f G en era l N ew s, th e s ta ff n e w s le tte r o f th e G e n e ra l L ib ra rie s at E m o ry U niversity, P e a b o d y o ffe re d m an y e n lig h te n in g c o m m e n ts a b o u t h e r w o rk (as “she w e lc o m e d us w ith a lan g u id w ave o f h e r long ink-stain ed fingers”) a n d life . In response, fo r ex am p le, to a q u e s tio n as to w h e th e r m an y o f h e r p o e m s a re a b o u t lib ra rie s, P e a b o d y allow ed th a t “w o rk in g in a lib ra ry can hav e a c e rta in influ- October 1989 /813 ence on one’s imagery, b u t.. .no, only one poem has really had anything to do w ith libraries. I shall do my best to see th at it doesn’t happen again, b u t I ’m making no p rom ises.” F o rtu n a te ly th a t single li­ brary poem , which was first read at the M idsum m er M adness F e st sponsored by the Em ory University Library staff on June 22, 1988, is a tru e m aster­ piece, which is rep rin te d below in its entirety (in a slightly abbreviated version) with the kind perm is­ sion of h e r “a g en t” L aura Akerm an, th at we can only hope will not tu rn out to be P eabody’s only library poem. Good reading! C ollege Library It is finals week; th ey have com e with doom resonant frightened eyes, voices that surprise them selves, and too late. They cannot be helped e n o u g h . Anita Norman (Copyrighted) Midsummer Eve or W hy on some occasions in th e library it som etim es occurs that everything which appears to be in p e rfe c t order, isn’t ’Twas q uiet at th e Library that fine m idsum m er eve, All was in good order. (Library of Congress, I believe.) H ours since th e Librarian had clicked off all th e lights, chucked th e last dawdling patron out and locked up for th e night. M idnight at th e Library... no quiet is quite so deep as th e breathless, dusty quiet o fa library asleep. B ut H ark!.. .was th at a rustling, a shuffling in th e dark? T he shelves began to trem ble th e re was no one th e re to h ark ... F o r no one knew th a t suddenly (at precisely 12:05) on th at w eird m idsum m er evening, th e collection was alive. T he shelves began to rattle as th e books began to hop, they w ere straining at th e ir bindings, th en down to th e floor they plopped! Treatises, tom es, and texts untouched since nineteen h u n d red and one flapped th e ir covers and shouted “W hoopee!” .. .the m adness had b e g u n . In horrifying disarray they tum bled, slid and hobbled a rum bling avalanche o f books on th e lam and looking for tro u b le . T hey w ere racing th e booktrucks down th e stairwell to C irculation for laughs and checking each o th e r out ju st for th e hell, those naughty monographs. The maps unfurled, th e atlases whirled, th e globe did bum ps and grinds, a n d th e v o l. l ’s w e r e tangoing with thevol. 99’s. The audiotapes strip poker played with th e films in various m edia. The dictionaries grew unafraid and w restled th e encyclopedia; T he copy 1’s and copy 2’s w ere coupling in th e carrels, their shamelessness producing added copies by th e b a rre ls... T he PN 6000’s w ere swapping some sm utty stories, all th e whiles th e phonograph records and microfilms w ere rolling in th e aisles; T he pages w ere flying, th e ink was flowing, it was war on th e th ird floor, w hen th e UA 30 battalion challenged t h e U G 4 4 ’s. On th e roof, th e HV 6500s w ere jum ping off th e brink, while the nautical VM flotilla was launching itself into th e sink; The pious BF-BX’s at first w ere a trifle uptight, until they com m enced to convert one another, th en Heavens! W hat a fight! 814 / C&RL News F o r hours upon hours, th e ruction c a rrie d on; from pillar to post th ey partied , u n til... th e crack o f daw n! A nd th e n th e m ost am azing event o f all o c c u rre d ... T hey r e tu rn e d to th e ir shelves and re-filed themselves w ithout a single word. E very book found th e final stren g th to heave itse lf into th e stacks. (All b u t th e Iittlest, tiniest book w hich nev er m ade it back .) Back in th e ir place, w ith cunn in g grace, th ey hid th e ir traces well tho u g h spines w ere broken and covers rip p e d from th e outside, none could tell. A nd if to th e d e p th s o f th e elevator shaft th ey h ad sw ept a few pages or so, and if a few volum es w ere o u t o f place, who w ould ever know? T w as m orning at th e Library. T h e L ibrarian n o te d smugly how each and every silent row was tu ck ed in nice and snugly. A nd nary a soul w ould have guessed w hat befell if it h a d n ’t b e e n for th a t w ee tiniest little book, w hich w h isp ered it all... to me! — Esme Peabody © 1989 L aura A kerm an ■ ■ Beinecke Library fellowships T h e B einecke R are Book and M an u scrip t L i­ brary, Yale University, offers sh o rt-te rm fellow­ ships to su p p o rt visiting scholars p u rsu in g p o s t­ doctoral or equivalent research in its collections. T h e fellowships, which su p p o rt travel to a n d from N ew H aven, C o n n e c tic u t, and pay a living allow­ ance o f $ 1,200 p e r m onth, are designed to provide access to th e library for scholars who reside outside th e greater N ew H aven area. T he length o f a grant, normally one m onth, will d epend on th e applicant’s rese a rc h proposal; fellowships m ust be taken up b e tw e en S e p te m b e r 1990 and May 1991. R ecip i­ e n ts are expected to be in resid en ce d u rin g th e p e rio d o f th e ir aw ard and are e n co u rag ed to p a r ­ ticipate in th e activities o f Yale University. A pplicants should subm it a resu m e and a b rie f research proposal (n o tto e x ce e d th re e p ag e s) to the D irec to r, B einecke R are Book a n d M anuscript Library, Box 1603A Yale Station, N ew H aven, CT 06520-1603. T h e proposal should em phasize th e relationship o f th e B einecke collections to th e p ro je c t and state th e p re fe rre d dates o f residence. T he applicant m ust also arrange to have two confi­ dential le tte rs o f rec o m m e n d a tio n sent to th e D i­ rector. T h e following n am ed fellow ships will also be awarded: th e F rederick W. Beinecke Fellowship in W estern Americana; the D onald C. Gallup Fellow- ship in A m erican lite ra tu re ; and th e H .P . Kraus Fellow ship in early books and m anuscripts. T h ere is no special application procedure for these nam ed fellowships. Application m aterials m ust be received by Janu­ ary 15,1990. Awards will be a n n o u n c ed in M arch 1990 for th e p e rio d S e p tem b e r 1990 th ro u g h May 1991. NCLIS Recognition Awards T he U .S. N ational Com m ission on Libraries and Inform ation Science is requesting nom ina­ tions for th e th ird year o f annual awards to honor initiative in improving and prom oting th e n a tio n ’s library and inform ation services. The award program , establishedin 1987, recognizes th e b e st initiative taken by an individual and by a non-governm ental, non-library organization in im proving and p ro m o tin g library and infor­ m ation services in th e previous c a le n d a r year. T h e N C L IS R ecognition Awards will be p r e ­ se n te d in W ashington, D .C ., in spring 1990. N om inees for th e aw ard m ust be A m erican citizens o r n o n-governm ental, non-library o r­ ganizations, including businesses, trade unions, charitab le institu tio n s, and voluntary associa­ tions or g ro u p s. T h e initiative to be considered m ust have been perform ed in the U . S. or its te r­ ritories. S eparate awards will be given—-one for individuals and one for organizations. N om ination form s a n d additional in fo rm a­ tion are available from N C L IS, 1 1 1 1 18th St., N.W ., Suite 310, W ashington, D C 20036. T he closing date for subm ission is January 15,1990.