Some Fun Things

I've used this time of working from home and social distancing to discover new fun things on the internet. Not everything out there is doom and gloom, there are actually some positive things that have appeared due to everyone being under some type of quarantine in order to stop the spread of this terrible virus.

Okay...enough with the depressing stuff, let's move on to the fun things!

First off, have you seen John Krasinski's YouTube episodes of Some Good News? They are fantastic. You probably know Krasinski from The Office, Jack Ryan, and as the director of A Quiet Place. He's also married to Mary Poppins....er, I mean Emily Blunt.

John has been gathering good news from around the world via Twitter and other social media channels and presenting short segments in the format of a news channel. I laughed. I cried. These are just fantastic. Episode 2 is just so amazing, it gave me goose bumps.  Click on the link to watch Some Good News.

Next up we have LeVar Burton of Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow fame. He has launched a Twitter live stream of his podcast LeVar Burton Reads for all ages on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Here is his current schedule and you can follow him on Twitter at @LevarBurton:

• Mondays for Children: 9:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. ET
• Wednesdays for YA: 3:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. ET
• Fridays for Adults: 6:00p.m. PT/9:00 p.m. ET

If you miss an episode, you can replay them on Twitter.

Speaking of Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members, how about Sir Patrick Stewart? Since Saturday, March 21, this incredibly talented, Oscar nominated actor has been treating people to a reading of one Shakespeare sonnet at day. Stewart had a long run with the Royal Shakespeare Company (1966-1982) so he is certainly qualified to read Shakespeare sonnets.

You can follow him on Twitter at @SirPatStew. As with LeVar Burton, if you miss a reading you can replay them on Twitter.

Authors Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson have a podcast called Ask the Bards in which they talk about many aspects of writing. The first episode came out on February 23, and they have continued to produce episodes. Kevin Hearne is very much into craft cocktails and birds, so if you have interest in either of those things you can follow him on Twitter at @KevinHearne.

Author Veronica Roth has a Twitch channel and during the month of April she is partnering with other authors to talk about writing, publishing, and other topics. 

Do you have a favorite author, artist, musician, or entertainer? Chances are they have started putting free, entertaining content on the internet via some social media platform. If you've discovered something new and wonderful, please share!

~Amy, Adult Services

Natasha Trethewey, Emory University Writing Professor, Named 19th U.S. Poet Laureate

Natasha Trethewey is a Pulitzer-prize winning poet, who began writing poetry in her teens after the murder of her mother by her step-father. Librarian of Congress James Billington chose Trethewey after hearing her read at the National Book Festival. Her work explores forgotten history and the many human tragedies of the Civil War. She is among the youngest laureates, and will reside in Washington and work in the Poetry Room at Library of Congress.

Carnegie-Stout Public Library has one of her books, Native Guard (2006)--winner of the Pulitzer prize in poetry in 2007. The collection follows the “Native Guard,” one of the first black regiments mustered into service in the Civil War. 

Other books and essays by the Trethewey will soon be on the shelves: Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (2012); Domestic Work (2000); and Bellocq’s Ophelia: Poems (2012). Her term begins this September.

Past poet laureates have included W. S. Merwin, Kay Ryan, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Pinsky, Rita Dove, and Robert Penn Warren. The library has books by these poets in the second-floor nonfiction collection, many found under the Dewey classification of 811.

  

Below is one poem to read by the new Laureate, from the website Poets.org.

~Mirdza Erika Berzins, librarian

Kitchen Maid with Supper at Emmaus, or The Mulata

By Natasha Trethewey

              —after the painting by Diego Velazquez, ca. 1619

She is the vessels on the table before her:

the copper pot tipped toward us, the white pitcher

clutched in her hand, the black one edged in red

and upside down. Bent over, she is the mortar

and the pestle at rest in the mortar—still angled

in its posture of use. She is the stack of bowls

and the bulb of garlic beside it, the basket hung

by a nail on the wall and the white cloth bundled

in it, the rag in the foreground recalling her hand.

She's the stain on the wall the size of her shadow—

the color of blood, the shape of a thumb. She is echo

of Jesus at table, framed in the scene behind her:

his white corona, her white cap. Listening, she leans

into what she knows. Light falls on half her face.

La Mulata by Diego Velazquez

Poem in Your Pocket Day

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Thursday, April 26 is Poem in Your Pocket Day!

Join us by selecting a poem you love and carrying it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends. You can also share your poem selection on Twitter using #pocketpoem or post to our Facebook & G+ pages.

If you need help finding that perfect poem, Poets.org has a great selection that you can browse by subject or author, or choose from their print-ready PDFs. Or stop the library and pick one up from our display! You can also sign up to receive a poem a day by email, download the mobile poetry reader app Poem Flow and explore poetry events in your state.

While I can't advocate eating poetry, here's one of my favorite poems from former Poet Laureate of the U.S. and University of Iowa  graduate Mark Strand:

Eating Poetry

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.

The librarian does not believe what she sees.
Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.

The poems are gone.
The light is dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

Their eyeballs roll,
their blond legs burn like brush.
The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

She does not understand.
When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
she screams.

I am a new man.
I snarl at her and bark.
I romp with joy in the bookish dark. 

Choose your Favorite Haiku!

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Carnegie-Stout Public Library is having a Library Haiku Contest! We've received a number of wonderful haikus over the past week. Our winners will be displayed on the announcement monitors in the library, as part of our Poetry Month display, and posted to our Blog and Facebook pages.

Help us select our winners by voting for your favorite entries in the comments section of this post. No sign up or log in required! And yes! We're still accepting last minute entries.

Entry One
Library heaven
on any day of the week
perusing the aisles

Entry Two
Adventure, surprise,
mystery, romance, sci-fi
at your library

Entry Three
Eight plus points to staff*,
such care makes the Telegraph.
Deep joy, that's no laugh.
*Library

Entry Four
Discover yourself,
at your local library
live the adventure

Entry Five
under the fan
crickets chirp
unsettled weather

Entry Six
Books, books everywhere
as far as the eye can see
could life "be" more fair?

Entry Seven
Bluff blooming
spring winds
aha! gifts

Entry Eight
Lazy summer days
spent reading under a tree
near the library

Entry Nine
When I first met you
When I first hugged you,
I thought being by your side
Is where I should be

Entry TenOppressive silence,
Then anguished cries, crazed murmurs,
@ your library (tm)

Entry ElevenCollected wisdom,
Painstakingly curated.
Also, DVDs.

Entry TwelveWhere darkness once reigned,
A spark catches in the mind,
Kindled by reading.

Entry ThirteenWhere once we knew shame,
Our lustful clinch is now veiled.
Reading on Kindle.

Entry Fourteen
Wonderment is found,
Instilled in our minds by books.
I travel so far.

Poetry Roundtable / 3 poets: 3 voices, 3 visions

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Carnegie-Stout Public Library is sponsoring Poetry Roundtable / 3 poets: 3 voices, 3 visions on April 11, 2012, at 7:00 PM in Aigler Auditorium. Three talented and published poets with Dubuque connections will read from their work and talk about poetry: Lauren Alleyne, Francine Banwarth, and James Pollock. Come enjoy hearing poetry read aloud and learn about less familiar poetic forms, such as haiku and senryu.

Lauren K. Alleyne is Poet-in-Residence and Assistant Professor of English at the University of Dubuque. Alleyne is a native of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Her work has been published in numerous journals: Atlanta Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Black Arts Quarterly, Kennesaw Review, and The Caribbean Writer. She won the International Publication Prize from The Atlanta Review and the Reginald Shepherd Memorial Poetry Prize. Her chapbook, Dawn in the Kaatskills, was published in 2008, and she is co-editor of the anthology From the Heart of Brooklyn. Alleyne earned a B.A. from St. Francis College, an M.A. from Iowa State University, and an M.F.A. from Cornell University.

Francine Banwarth lives in Dubuque and began studying haiku in 1988. She is a cofounder of Haiku Dubuque, which recently published The River Knows the Way. She has received numerous awards for her haiku and senryu; and her haiku, senryu, rengay, and haibun have been published in numerous journals, anthologies, and chapbooks. She currently serves as editor of Frogpond, the major publication since 1978 of the Haiku Society of America. Banwarth earned a B.A. from Clarke University.

James Pollock is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Loras College in Dubuque. He is the author of two books to be published in 2012: Sailing to Babylon, a collection of poetry, and You Are Here: Essays on Criticism and the Art of Poetry in Canada. His poetry has been published in numerous journals: The Paris Review, Poetry Daily, The Fiddlehead, AGNI, Geist, Southern Poetry Review, and Canadian Literature. He earned an Honors B.A. in English literature and creative writing from York University (Toronto), and an M.A. and Ph.D. in creative writing and literature from the University of Houston. He was a John Woods Scholar in poetry at the Prague Summer Program at Charles University, and a work-study scholar in poetry at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Mr. Pollock lives with his wife and son in Madison, Wisconsin.

The public is invited to attend this free event. For more information, please call the Carnegie-Stout Public Library at 563-589-4225.

Haiku, brief phrases / and descriptive words turning / snow into blossoms

Cherry Blossoms By John-Morgan

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Carnegie-Stout Public Library is having a Library Haiku Contest!

To enter your library haiku, come in to the library and pick up an entry form at the Recommendations Desk on the first floor or the Reference Desk on the second floor. You may also submit your entry as a comment here, or you may use our Contact Us form found by clicking here.

Entries must be submitted by Friday April 6th to be considered for the contest.

Not sure how to write a haiku? We're using the simple rules.
A first line of 5 syllables
A second line of 7 syllables
A third line of 5 syllables

Our winners will be displayed on the announcement monitors in the library, as part of our Poetry Month display, and posted to our Blog and Facebook pages.

Need inspiration? Check out some of the haiku collections available at Carnegie-Stout:
Baseball Haiku: American and Japanese Haiku and Senryu on Baseball edited by Cor van den Heuvel and Nanae Tamura (811 BAS)

Cherry-Blossoms: Japanese Haiku by Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki, and others (895.61 CHE)

Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa edited by Robert Hass (895.613208 ESS)

The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share and Teach Haiku by William J. Higginson with Penny Harter (808.1 HIG)

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright (811.52 WRI)

Listen to Light: Haiku by Raymond Roseliep ( 811 ROS (Ia Bks)

Rabbit in the Moon: Haiku by Raymond Roseliep (811 ROS, IA Bks)

The River Knows the Way: Haiku and Senryu by Francine Banwarth, Cynthia Cechota, David McKee, Jayne Miller, and Bill Pauly (811 RIV, IA Bks)

Silent Flowers; a Collection of Japanese Haiku edited by R. H. Blyth (895.613 SIL)

Twenty Days on Route 20 by Michael Czarnecki (811.54 CZA)

Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum (818.602 MEC)

"Poetry" & "Poets and Writers," Magazines of the Month

April is National Poetry Month, and so we've selected two poetry magazines as this month's feature.

Poetry has been published monthly since 1912 by the Poetry Foundation, located in Chicago, IL. That makes this year their 100th year of publication! You can browse the contents of past issues at their website, as well as enjoy poetry podcasts.

Poets and Writers was founded in 1970, and is the nation's largest nonprofit literary organization serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. They sponsor writing contests, discussion forums for writers and more at their website.

Be sure to stop in to Carnegie-Stout this month to check out our celebration of National Poetry Month! We're sponsoring a Poetry Roundtable / 3 poets: 3 voices, 3 visions on April 11, 2012, at 7:00 PM in Aigler Auditorium. Three talented and published poets with Dubuque connections will read from their work and talk about poetry: Lauren Alleyne, Francine Banwarth, and James Pollock.

Spotlight on Ireland

Saturday is St. Patrick's Day, when we Americans celebrate our Irish heritage, or at least the possibility that we might be related to or know someone with Irish heritage. Ireland is a beautiful country with a rich history that goes far beyond the rather American custom of green beer.

We've gathered together some of the materials available here at Carnegie-Stout to help you celebrate St. Patrick's with a good book, some Irish food, or even by planning a visit to Ireland. Be sure to stop in to the library to check out the display on the first floor!


Irish Food
Recipes for a Perfect Marriage by Morag Prunty
A touching story of marriage and food, with Irish charm and recipes. Tressa has doubts about her recent marriage and turns to the recipes of her grandmother Bernadine for comfort, and discovers that Bernadine's seemingly perfect marriage had its own share of rough patches.

• Irish Pub Cookbook 641.59417 JOH
• 30 Years at Ballymaloe: a celebration of the world-renowned cooking school with over 100 new recipes 641.59415 ALL
• A Taste of Ireland 641.59415 WHI

Irish Culture
Jig DVD 793.3194 JIG
Features the remarkable story of the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships, held in March 2010 in Glasgow. Thousands of dancers, their families, and teachers from around the globe descend upon Glasgow for one drama-filled week.

• Dublin: a cultural history 941.835 KIL
• A Guide to Irish Mythology 290.162 SMY
• The Traditional Irish Wedding 395.2209 HAG
• A Treasury of Irish Folklore 398.2 COL
• Irish-English / English-Irish Dictionary 491.623 IRI
• Danny Boy : the beloved Irish ballad 782.43 MCC
• Celtic Woman DVD 782.42 CEL
• The Best of Riverdance DVD 793.3194 BES

Travel Ireland
Historic Pubs of Dublin DVD 914.1835
Frank McCourt tells the story of the city through its most historic pubs, dating back hundreds of years. In addition to the legendary drinking establishments, viewers will learn more about must-see attractions like Trinity College, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Grafton Street, Jameson Distillery, Guinness Brewery, the city's beautiful parks, and more.

• Back Roads Ireland 914.15 BAC
• Rick Steves' Ireland 914.15 RIC
• On an Irish Island 941.96 KAN
• Fodor's 2012 Ireland 914.15 FOD
• Cycle Touring in Ireland 796.64 COO
• Ireland DVD 914.15

Explore Your Irish Heritage
Road to McCarthy: around the world in search of Ireland by Pete McCarthy 909 MCC
Travel writer Pete McCarthy embarks on a journey to learn about his own family and discovers how far flung the McCarthy descendants are. Witty, offbeat, and insightful, Mr. McCarthy's journey takes genealogical research in delightfully unexpected directions.

• Tracing Your Irish Family History 929.10720415 (Gen)
• In Search of Your British & Irish Roots 929.10892041 BAX (Gen Ref)
• How the Irish Saved Civilization 941.501 CAH (Lg. Print)
• The Irish Americans 973.049162 DOL
• The Dictionary of Irish Family Names 929.42 GRE (Gen Ref)

Irish Literature

• Cecelia Ahern, author of whimsical contemporary romantic fiction
• John Banville, winner of the Man Booker Prize in 2005, his fiction is haunting, descriptive, and dives deep into the minds of his characters
• Sebastian Barry, his novels typically have a historical setting and an intricate plot, also a poet, his writing is lyrical
• Samuel Beckett, a Nobel Laureate, novelist and playwright with an experimental style and a dark sense of humor
• Maeve Binchy, the author of heartwarming stories of life in a changing world with a focus on her characters' relationships, be sure to check out our Maeve Binchy read alikes
• Eoin Colfer, an author of fast-paced tales that feature adventure and humor, best known for the Artemis Fowl series
• Anne Enright, an author of haunting, character-driven novels and short fiction
• James Joyce, one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, his stream of contagiousness novel Ulysses is the basis for the yearly Bloomsday Celebration
• Marian Keyes, an author of funny, conversational chick lit, often with a Dublin setting
• Pat McCabe, his novels are offbeat, darkly humorous, character-driven, dialect-rich, and sometimes creepy
• Bram Stoker, the author of the classic vampire story Dracula
• Jonathan Swift, a satirical essayist and the author of Gulliver's Travels
• Colm Toibin, an author of melancholy, character-driven novels and short fiction
• Oscar Wilde, a poet, playwright, and novelist known for his sharp wit and the troubles of his personal life
• William Butler Yeats, Nobel Laureate, poet, and champion of Irish literature

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Bookclub Read Alikes

Whether you're looking for the next title for your book club, or just looking for a good read, we have some suggestions for you! Carnegie-Stout's own Book Club will be discussing Shadow Divers on July 12th, you can find all the details on the library's calendar.

You may also be interested in a new service the library is offering, the Book Club in a Bag. These sets come with discussion questions, author information, and read alike lists. We currently have three titles available: The Maltese Falcon, The Weight of Silence, and Land of a Hundred Wonders. If you're interested in using one of these sets for your next book club, please stop by in person, or call the library at (563) 589-4225 and ask for the Reference Desk.


The Maltese Falcon, written by Dashiell Hammet in 1930, and first adapted to the big screen in 1941, is today recognized as a classic among detective stories. Mr. Hammet used his experience working with Pinkerton's National Detective Agency in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington state to infuse a grittier reality into the detective genre. The Maltese Falcon is a page-turner of a mystery with action, humor, and engaging dialogue. Mr. Hammet's distinctive style introduced many archetypes of the mystery genre, from the femme fatale to the hardboiled detective.

As the NEA says, The Maltese Falcon is "a brilliant literary work, as well as a thriller, a love story, and a dark, dry comedy. The only criticism one could offer Hammett’s private-eye classic is that it is so much fun to read, it might be hard the first time through to realize how deeply observed and morally serious it is."

Check out these hardboiled Read Alike suggestions for The Maltese Falcon: http://library.booksite.com/6673/nl/?list=CNL6&group=EB40&preview=1
-Sarah, Adult Services


Heather Gudenkauf, local Dubuque author, graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education and for the past sixteen years has worked with elementary children. Currently, along with writing, Heather is an Instructional Coach, an educator who provides teachers with curricular, student, and professional development support. Heather lives in Dubuque, Iowa with her husband and children.

Here is a brief summary of Gudenkauf's debut novel The Weight of Silence:
When two seven-year-old girls go missing, all are under suspicion. Calli Clark is a dreamer. A sweet, gentle girl, Callie suffers from selective mutism, brought on by a tragedy she experienced as a toddler. Her mother Antonia tries her best to help, but is confined by marriage to a violent husband. Petra Gregory is Calli's best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli have been heard from since their disappearance was discovered. Now Calli and Petra's families are bound by the question of what has happened to their children. As support turns to suspicion, it seems the answers lie trapped in the silence of unspoken secrets.

If you enjoyed The Weight of Silence, may we suggest the following books: http://library.booksite.com/6673/nl/?list=CNL9&group=EB37&preview=1
-Amy, Adult Services


Land of a Hundred Wonders by Lesley Kagen
The summer Gibby McGraw catches her big break, the cicadas are humming, and it’s so warm even the frogs are sweating. Brain damaged after a tragic car accident that took both her parents, Gibby is now NQR (Not Quite Right), a real challenge for a fledgling newspaper reporter. Especially when she stumbles upon the dead body of the next governor of Kentucky, Buster Malloy.

Author Lesley Kagen, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, is an actress, voice-over talent, and restaurateur. She is also the author of the bestselling titles, Whistling in the Dark and Tomorrow River. Her new book, Good Graces, is coming out in September 2011.

All three of Kagen's titles are fast paced, family stories, that take place in rural, small towns, during the 50's, 60's and 70's. Her books are filled with quirky characters, many who must learn tolerance of those who are a little different. They contain elements of mystery and suspense, but are also sprinkled with humor.

The reading list found at this link represents other titles with those same attributes:
http://library.booksite.com/6673/nl/?list=CNL16&group=EB54&preview=1
-Becky, Adult Services

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

"Bright objects hypnotize the mind."

A Word with You

Look out! there’s that damned ape again

sit silently until he goes,

or else forgets the things he knows

(whatever they are) about us, then

we can begin to talk again.

Have you tried playing with your ring?

Sometimes, that calms them down, I find.

(Bright objects hypnotize the mind.)

Get his attention on anything—

anything will do—there, try your ring.

The glitter pleases him. You see

he squints his eyes; his lips hang loose.

You were saying?—Oh Lord, what’s the use,

for now the parrot’s after me

and the monkeys are awake. You see

how hard it is, you understand

This nervous strain in which we live—

Why just one luscious adjective

infuriates the whole damned band

And they’re squabbling for it. I understand

some people manage better. How?

They treat the creatures without feeling.

- Throw books to stop the monkeys’ squealing,

slap the ape and make him bow,

are firm, keep order,—but I don’t know how.

Quick! there’s the cockatoo! he heard!

(He can’t bear any form of wit.)

- Please watch out that you don’t get bit;

there’s not a thing escapes that bird.

Be silent—now the ape has overheard.

Elizabeth Bishop 1933

The 2011 National Poetry Month poster features the line "bright objects hypnotize the mind" from Elizabeth Bishop's poem "A Word with You." Bishop was born February 8, 1911, so we are celebrating her centennial in 2011.

It was designed by Stephen Doyle and is sponsored by The New York Times, National Endowment for the Arts, Random House, Inc., Merriam-Webster, and The Poetry Foundation.

National Poetry Month-Iowa Poems and Poets

There will be an opportunity to hear young local poets at DubuqueFest this year. In conjunction with the 33rd Anniversary of DubuqueFest Fine Arts Festival (May 20-22, 2011), the Dubuque Area Writers Guild will publish The Dubuque Youth Gallery, an open genre anthology showcasing the art and writing of young Dubuquers.Writers selected for publication will be invited to read from their published pieces at a reception held at the Dubuque Museum of Art, Friday, May 20, 2011 at 7 PM during DubuqueFest.



The Iowa Poetry Association is a non-profit organization whose sole objective is to promote interest in and appreciation for better poetry by Iowans. They publish an annual anthology, Lyrical Iowa. Carnegie Stout Public Library has most of these volumes, going back to 1976, as well as hundreds of poetry books by local authors. They can be found upstairs, in the historic section of the library, in the Iowa Collection, 811.54.

Encyclopedia Dubuque lists several authors under the category:poet, including:
HERZBERGER, Magda
I had the privilege of hearing Magda speak many years ago. She read several of her poems about the holocaust aloud to a rapt audience of high schoolers. Carnegie Stout has several of her books of poetry, as well as two video recordings of her presentations.
HEUSTIS, Bertha Lincoln
KLINKNER, Anthony Ferdinand Timothy
SCHMITZ, Dennis
SIGWARTH, Anthony (Monsignor)
Click on the links to see the titles available at the library.

Here is just a sampling of the many other poetry books in the Iowa Collection:

I found "99 Voices, 99 Lives: County Poems of Iowa" by John David Thompson, to be an interesting series of Iowa poems. Many were humorous with hidden meanings and clues. The poem about Dubuque County is entitled: Dream Acres, and alludes to Field of Dreams.

Steve Healey's book, 10 Mississippi Poems, ranges from oxygen depletion to dead bodies to children's games all within 10 poems. Although not exactly a local author, this book touches upon many things those of us living on the Mississippi understand.

Nishnabotna, by Michael Carey, is a mixture of poems and prose centered around the Nishnabotna River area of southwest Iowa. Although Carey was born in New York, he currently resides outside Farragut, Iowa and his poetry is an evocative look at the rural life.

Don't forget to stop in and pick up a bookmark full of ideas and activities for poetry month. Sunday, April 17 says "TAKE A POEM TO LUNCH: Adding a poem to lunch puts some poetry in your day and gives you something great to read while you eat."

POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY

Thursday, April 14th is "Poem in Your Pocket Day." Celebrate by selecting a poem you love and carry it with you to share with friends, family and co-workers. Stop in a see our display of pockets holding a variety of short poems. You may pick up a copy to take with you, or check out a book from our large selection of poetry books.

Don't forget to pick up a calendar bookmark full of ideas for celebrating National Poetry Month. And be sure to check out www.poets.org for other suggestions.