October Poetry Events

October 7th Reading: Ragged Edge in Gettysburg; 6 p.m. open mic, 7 p.m. Kate Brady feature

October 8th Reading: Reader's Cafe in Hanover at 7:30 p.m.; Masquerade poem theme

October 17th Critique: Giant Supermarket Cafe (North Hanover) at 7:30 p.m.; Bring multiple copies of a poem

September Column

First published in The Evening Sun on September 25, 2011:

At the turn of the 20th century, many, including Andrew Carnegie, referred to the public library as the "poor man's university." The change from subscription libraries to public libraries allowed all people to read and learn, regardless of class. In Hanover in 1900, residents had to belong to the subscription library to read the books there. However, this all changed in 1911 with the dedication of Hanover's own public library.

On October 3, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hanover's public library, which opened as the Young Memorial Library in 1911. Though there have been many additions and renovations, we honor the original part of the library: the dome and the Aristotle window, along with our library's role in the community for a century.

When a recent library expansion project was completed in 2006, former Poet Laureate Dana Sauers wrote a poem for its dedication. Titled "Arrival," her poem honors the history of our public library, "Hanover's home," while also looking to its future, its "electric path to wisdom."

Arrival

Between the tracks

of embarking and disembarking

ride history’s sleepy, sepia-toned specters,

soft soles, tiptoeing through boxcars;

two, corralling race horses,

one, gathering black roses—

still another cradling wooden shoe crates.

Arriving, assembling this hour

brick by brick,

they re-build and build

column’s cornices

and an eye to heaven

while seeking

the palest yellow haunt and heart

Hanover’s home—

this treasure chest, lamp lighter,

ledger of time, recording,

encasing, embracing those

who have moved these mighty stones

resurrected bones,

olive and plum thrones to knowledge,

electric path to wisdom.

With her movement from past to present, mimicking the trains, Sauers reminds us that our library has experienced much of Hanover's history, sitting "Between the tracks."

To honor our library's centennial history and to celebrate its future role in our community, the Guthrie Memorial Library, Hanover's Public Library, will hold a series of events on October 2 and 3.

According to Laura Zimmerman from Guthrie Memorial Library, "The events, held Sunday, Oct. 2 from 2-4 pm and Monday, Oct. 3 beginning at 5:30 pm are both open to the general public. Sunday is a Family Day and Monday is a Rededication Ceremony simulating the events of the original ceremony held 100 years ago.

"Family Day (Sunday) will include entertainment, light refreshments, PowerPoint presentation, and general tours of the library. Monday evening will be a more formal gathering with remarks being made by former library staff, board members, state and local library officials, local dignitaries and Hanover's Poet Laureate. The Hanover String Quartet will provide entertainment. Light refreshments will be served and a booklet containing a history of the library will be distributed."

As a part of this celebration, I will read a poem written for the library's rededication, titled "A Century of Circulation." This poem, rooted in Hanover's history, shows how the library has remained the heart of our community, though growing and stretching along with our needs and the passing of time.

A Century of Circulation

Imagine Hanover in 1911:

the center of five radiating roads,

loads of new industry passing through

the dusty, mule-paved "diamond,"

hickory-log houses now replaced by brick and frame,

electricity and sewage.

In the market, vendors haggle in vestiges of German.

Printed words and ideas a scarce luxury,

schoolchildren compete for privileges

at the subscription library.

In the heart of this moment,

the town constructs a system

to pump language, like oxygen, into its body

and has maintained this literary pulse

for one hundred years

nourishing people like me,

who, as a child, sat in the sunshine

of our bay window after church

to read the week's library books.

Now, as the limbs stretch

into the next century of ideas,

the library lines shelves with new veins of expression

that branch from its current collection,

its history: the center of circulation.

I hope you will join us on October 3 to honor the history and celebrate the future of our own "poor man's university."