Somerville Public Library Blog

May 2, 1536: In Renaissance  Europe’s equivalent of the ugly celebrity divorce, Henry VIII accuses Anne Boleyn of adultery and incest. Think Paul McCartney and Heather Mills with popes and executioners getting involved.

May 4, 1896: A grease fire ignites half a ton of dynamite in Cripple Creek, Colorado. This is why you shouldn’t store your dynamite in the kitchen.

May 5, 1912: Soviet newspaper Pravda begins publishing, setting standards of media objectivity unsurpassed until the founding of Fox News.

May 7, 1657: King Louis XIV prohibits the sale of liquor to Indians, which works about as well as every other law saying you can’t sell booze to certain people.

May 9, 1386: England and Portugal sign a treaty of alliance. Surprisingly, the threat of having to take on Portugal doesn’t stop other countries from picking fights with England.

May 14, 1998: Final episode of Seinfeld. People all over America wonder what they’ll do now to make conversation with co-workers.

May 24, 1626: Dutch colonists buy Manhattan from the Indians for trinkets worth $24. It’s a buyer’s market the likes of which won’t be seen again for another 383 years.

Here’s what the Library’s book groups will be reading in the next few months.  New members are always welcome, so why not drop in some evening?

Mystery Book Group (Central Library, Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.)

• May 6th: Sidetracked by Henning Mankell
• June 3rd: The Dead Hour by Denise Mina
• July 1st: All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming
• August 5th: The King of Lies by John Hart

Book Group for Kids in Grades 4-6 (Central Library, Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.)

• May 12th: Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
• June 9th: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Davis Square Classic Book Club (West Branch Library, Mondays at 7:15 p.m.)

• May 18th: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
• June 22nd: Falconer by John Cheever
• July 20th: Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
• August 24th: 1491 by Charles Mann
• September 21st: The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Chieftan Iffucan of Azcan with caftan

Of tan with henna hackles, halt!

Damned universal cock, as if the sun

Was blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.

Fat! Fat! Fat! Fat! I am the personal.

Your world is you. I am my world.

You ten-foot poet among inchlings. Fat!

Begone! An inchling bristles in these pines,

Bristles, and points their Appalachian tangs,

And fears not portly Azcan nor his hoos.

Little poppies, little hell flames,
Do you do no harm?

You flicker. I cannot touch you.
I put my hands among the flames. Nothing burns.

And it exhausts me to watch you
Flickering like that, wrinkly and clear red, like the skin of a mouth.

A mouth just bloodied.
Little bloody skirts!

There are fumes that I cannot touch.
Where are your opiates, your nauseous capsules?

If I could bleed, or sleep! -
If my mouth could marry a hurt like that!

Or your liquors seep to me, in this glass capsule,
Dulling and stilling.

But colorless. Colorless.

Like everywhere else in the country,  library use is up in Somerville. The Journal ran a great article this week on how people are turning to SPL to save money, look for jobs, or just simply enjoy themselves. The article highlighted some of SPL’s numerous services: We have ESL classes that are packed–and in desperate need of fluent English speakers to help run classes (hint). If you need some one-on-one time with one of our  reference staff to help with (for example) a complicated research project, you can Book A Librarian. The AudioVisual Department has museum passes that can defray the cost of visiting local institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Gardner, and the New England Aquarium. And I’ll close this post by mentioning that if you want to still go to the movies but save a few bucks,  we’re in the middle of one of our film series: the next movie is Fever Pitch on Thursday, May 14th at 6:30 p.m (Central Library).

…to William Shakespeare! In all honesty, we don’t really know when he was born, but christenings in Renaissance England usually took place 2 or 3 days after birth, and according to the parish register in Stratford-on-Avon, young Will was baptized on April 26, 1564.

If you’re of a mind to celebrate, Gulu-Gulu Cafe in Salem is having an open mike night starting at 8 p.m.–people are invited to read or recite their favorite passages from the Bard’s work.

Mayor Daley of Chicago has also declared today Talk Like Shakespeare Day–so no more of thy newfangled manner of talk, speak this day like an Englishman true!  And if thou art of a mind to sing, thou canst lend thy voice to the noble strains of the Q Brothers as they hail the bard’s birth in the hip-hop style (scroll down the page a bit, you’ll find it).

But the best way to honor Shakespeare is to read (or watch) his work. We have copies of all of his plays at SPL (call # 822.33) and quite a few sterling performances on DVD. And while you’re in our AV Department, look for Slings & Arrows, a TV series about a dysfunctional Shakespearean theatrical troupe–it’s one of the best television shows of all time (I’m not exaggerating).

You might also consider going to a live performance. Somerville’s very own Actors’ Shakespeare Project will be performing Much Ado About Nothing beginning May 14.

So off to the library–or order tickets! The play’s the thing!

Pray To What Earth
by Henry David Thoreau

Pray to what earth does this sweet cold belong,
Which asks no duties and no conscience?
The moon goes up by leaps, her cheerful path
In some far summer stratum of the sky,
While stars with their cold shine bedot her way.
The fields gleam mildly back upon the sky,
And far and near upon the leafless shrubs
The snow dust still emits a silver light.
Under the hedge, where drift banks are their screen,
The titmice now pursue their downy dreams,
As often in the sweltering summer nights
The bee doth drop asleep in the flower cup,
When evening overtakes him with his load.
By the brooksides, in the still, genial night,
The more adventurous wanderer may hear
The crystals shoot and form, and winter slow
Increase his rule by gentlest summer means.

One of the most distinctive novelists of the past century died on Sunday. James Graham Ballard’s genius lay in an uncompromisingly bleak vision that would prove uncannily prophetic as the twentieth century wound down to its end.  His subjects were ecological catastrophe, the destructiveness of war, and the effects of technology and consumer culture on our mental health.

Given his childhood, it’s unsurprising that his fiction would be both bleak and so rooted in reality that one critic wrote “It hardly deserved to be called fiction.” He was born in Shanghai to British expatriates. When he was only 11 the Japanese attacked Shanghai and put Ballard and his parents in an internment camp. He later wrote, “In many ways my entire fiction is the exploration of a deep pathology I had witnessed in Shanghai.”

The BBC has an online tribute to Ballard here. And here is the New York Times’ survey of his life and work. But probably the best tribute you can pay to the man is to read his books.  SPL has a number of them, including Crash, Empire of the Sun, a collection of his short stories and Super-Cannes. Check them out–literally.

We shouldn’t let National Poetry month go by without considering the limerick. You can find the Library’s limerick books by clicking here. There are also lots of very funny ones to be found online at the Limerick Database. Not all of them are good, and not all of them are clean - you have been warned! - but here’s an example of one that’s both. (Bonus: it’s not just a limerick, it’s a template for would-be poets who are metrically challenged!)

There once was a [person] from [place]
Whose [body part] was [special case]
When [event] would occur
It would cause [him or her]
To violate [law of time/space.]

Heh. Thank you, anonymous poet!

Sumo Mice & Power Rice: Tales and Games from Japan
Central Library, 79 Highland Ave.
Wednesday, April 22nd at 2pm

Award-winning storyteller Motoko delights audiences of all ages with her expressive and exciting performance of folktales from Japan, complete with music, mime, and humor. The program is recommended for children age 5 and older and their families. At the end of the program, every child will receive Motoko’s original paper sumo game!

Motoko has performed at many schools and libraries throughout her storytelling career, and has even appeared on “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” She has won numerous awards, and for good reason - her performances are lively, captivating, and unforgettable. This is a program you won’t want to miss!