She Is Too Fond Of Books ... » Quotable

Quotable: President Barack Obama mentions our town!

sheistoofondofbooks — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:25:04 +0000

Like many of you, I planned my day yesterday around watching the inauguration activities. I flipped the TV on around 10:30 and took it all in for over three hours, then switched to radio for the sake of my young son’s sanity.

True confession time: LM4 was not content to sit next to me on the sofa and watch this historic event; nor was he happy with the Play-Doh or Legos I offered him … I let him play with his brother’s Nintendo DS for THREE HOURS. He was happy, I was happy; it was an exception to the way we usually do things around here, I’m moving on …

After President Obama took the Oath of Office I listened intently to his Inaugural Address. I won’t reproduce it in its entirety here, I just want to draw your attention to one section:

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

Concord?!? That’s where we live! Our town, already known for its literary history and its role in the American Revolution, was cited in President Obama’s speech! We were held up as an example of what people have done in the past to affect change.

“Little Man, did you hear that?!? He mentioned Concord!” I didn’t get the reaction I was hoping for, as he was intent on getting to the next level in the game he was playing. It was more satisfying to talk to my other kids when they came home from school. All three (starting with the youngest, in First Grade) had assemblies to watch part of the ceremonies, the swearing in, and the President’s address. They reported that there were shouts and cheers in their auditoriums when Concord was mentioned … it’s good to know they were paying attention!

Quotable: Barack Obama on libraries

sheistoofondofbooks — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:34:52 +0000

Direct from Shelf Awareness (11/10/08):

‘The Library Has Always Been a Window to a Larger World’

“More than a building that houses books and data, the library has always been a window to a larger world–a place where we’ve always come to discover big ideas and profound concepts that help move the American story forward. . . . .

“Libraries remind us that truth isn’t about who yells the loudest, but who has the right information. Because even as we’re the most religious of people, America’s innovative genius has always been preserved because we also have a deep faith in facts.

“And so the moment we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold into a library, we’ve changed their lives forever, and for the better. This is an enormous force for good.”–President-elect Barack Obama in a speech at the American Library Association annual conference in June 2005.

[Many thanks to Donna Paz Kaufman and Janet W. Loveless of the Nassau County Public Library System, Fernandina Beach, Fla.]

September was National Library Card Month. I remember getting my card as soon as I could write my first and last names; what great excitement and responsibility! The card was heavy cardstock with a metal plate indicating the patron number; it slipped inside a small envelope for safekeeping. I wonder if any older/rural libraries still use those. Do you have memories of getting your first library card?

Quotable: J. K. Rowling

Dawn — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:40:06 +0000

The rain didn’t keep away the graduates, alumni, family and friends when J. K. Rowling delivered her commencement address at Harvard University this afternoon. Commencement activities were available live on streaming video at Harvard’s website and various Rowling fan sites. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter series, shared her thoughts on “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination” to this standing-room-only crowd.

She encouraged the graduates to take away two lessons from her address. The first is the benefit of failure; she shares a tale of her own failure, and her subsequent realization that although she had failed at one venture, there were so many other areas of her life in which she was a success. She had failed “on an epic scale”, yet survived. She no longer feared failing; hitting rock bottom because that supposed low then “became the solid foundation on which [she] rebuilt [her] life.”

The second lesson Rowling shared is the importance of imagination. Shortly after graduation from university, Rowling worked at Amnesty International. Her co-workers and clients included former political prisoners, torture victims, and others who had been denied the most basic of human rights. Rowling reminded her audience that:

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.

The author concluded by reminding the graduates and guests that, unlike Harry Potter, “we do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” She wished the audience the power of true friendships and “very good lives.”

Quotable: David McCullough

Dawn — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:53:44 +0000

Renowned historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough gave the 2008 commencement speech at Boston College this past Monday. It was an oration charged with encouragement and wisdom for his audience.

There has been a lot of press about one particular section of the address, in which McCullough encourages the graduates to “stop the verbal virus” and limit the use of words such as “awesome”, “actually” and “like”. While I agree that grammar and vocabulary misuse is a “ginormous” problem (and I’m a huge fan of Lynn Truss’ manifesto Eats, Shoots & Leaves), my favorite lines are the ones that encourage a reading community:

“Make use of the public libraries. Start your own library and see it grow. Talk about the books you’re reading. Ask others what they’re reading. You’ll learn a lot.”

That’s exactly what we do with our blogs, online reading circles and discussion groups! Many of us are also involved in face-to-face gatherings that meet to exchange ideas, opinions, and sometimes arguments about the books we read. Mr. McCullough, send those new graduates our way!

Read the full text of McCullough’s speech, “The Love of Learning,” at this link.

Of McCullough’s works, the only one on my bookshelf is John Adams … which I read and discussed with a book group years before the HBO movie was aired! After studying this list, I’ve added The Great Bridge to my reading wishlist … what do *you* recommend?

1776
John Adams
Truman
Brave Companions
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt
The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1940
The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
Johnstown Flood