Skip to content

Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine

Poets, Poetry, News, Reviews, Readings, Resources & Opportunities for Poets and Writers

  • About
  • Testimonials
  • CDR Resource List
  • Recommended Reading, Gifts & Supplies
  • Disclosure
  • POEMS: “The Doves Have Flown” & others by Jamie Dedes
Posted on September 13, 2015September 12, 2015

Do you remember going to the library for the first time and getting your happiness card?

by Jamie Dedes.In General Interest, literature.15 Comments on Do you remember going to the library for the first time and getting your happiness card?

“Ever since we had arrived in the United States, my classmates kept asking me about magic carpets.– They don’t exist-I always said. I was wrong. Magic carpets do exist. But they are called library cards.” Firoozeh Dumas, Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad

FullSizeRender-2“When I got [my] library card, that was when my life began.” Rita Mae Brown, Rita Will: Memories of a Literary Rabble-rouser

“The Parkchester Library was my haven. To thumb through the card catalog was to touch an infinite bounty, more books than I could ever possibly exhaust.”  Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We went to the library on Friday and were charmed by this cheerful little exhibit. Apparently we weren’t the only adults who liked it. There were no kids around, just a few grown-ups with bright eyes and big smiles, ostensibly collecting Snoopy coloring pages for their kids.

I wondered if the others were remembering the magic of their first card and their early trips to the library. Perhaps they also smiled to think about taking their own children to the library.  My son used to love visiting “the girls” … that is, the librarians hosting pre-school story-hour.

Thank goodness for free libraries, one of the foundations of democracy, of learning and refuge and wonder. And here we are again: September! now officially library card sign-up month for another generation of children. Some traditions are worth keeping. Some pleasures don’t fade with time.

CNQiXAVUcAElGUe

The photographs are mine and the cartoon is the work of Chris OBrion, writer, illustrator, visual journalist and editorial cartoonist.

Rate this:

Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.

  • Tweet
  • Pocket
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email
  • Print
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

booksChris OBrion cartoonfirst library cardJamie Dedeslibrarieslibrary cardlibrary card sign-up monthmemoriesreadingSeptember

15 Comments

  1. Pat says:
    November 23, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    I visited St. Petersburg Russia shortly after Perastoika and they were trying to fill libraries. I went with my daughter who had lived there a year and made friends with a woman who allowed us to stay with her. This friend was good friends with a very talented artist, who my daughter also knew from when she lived there. I found out that she became a friend of this artist when she was in university. He had a big library of books that were banned in the USSR and would loan them to her. She would share them with friends so they could discuss them, then take them back for more. Let us never forget how fortunate we are to have access to all books and fight against banning.

    LikeLiked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Jamie Dedes says:
      November 23, 2015 at 5:11 pm

      Amen! Truly a blessings and a cornerstone of democracy. Thank you for your visit and comment, Pat.

      LikeLike

      Reply
  2. Bodhirose says:
    September 16, 2015 at 7:34 pm

    I don’t remember exactly when I got my first library card but I clearly remember Mom taking me to the library every couple of weeks when I was elementary school age and I would get the maximum amount of books that I could. I felt so important to use that card and reading all those books fed my soul. I still love getting lost in a good read. I agree, Jamie, library cards are happiness cards!

    LikeLiked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. David J. Bauman says:
    September 14, 2015 at 11:59 pm

    And yes, it’s a thrill watching the giant, proud smile on a child’s face when she/he gets their first library card.

    LikeLiked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. David J. Bauman says:
    September 14, 2015 at 11:58 pm

    Best job I’ve ever had. Loving every minute of it (well, most every minute–computer crashes aren’t fun anywhere). Thanks for promoting and doing your bit to keep me employed. 😉

    LikeLiked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Jamie Dedes says:
      September 15, 2015 at 2:10 am

      I hadn’t realized you work at the library. How wonderful is that for a poet, writer, reader? Great!

      LikeLiked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. David J. Bauman says:
        September 15, 2015 at 8:02 am

        It’s been a year and four months now, and it’s truly the best fit for me, yes. 🙂

        LikeLiked by 1 person

        Reply
        1. Jamie Dedes says:
          September 15, 2015 at 8:37 am

          Congratulations, David. Employment is always good. When you like the employment, that’s great. Bravo!

          LikeLiked by 1 person

          Reply
  5. slpmartin says:
    September 13, 2015 at 10:09 am

    Indeed a wonderful tradition…hopefully parents will assist their children.

    LikeLiked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Victoria C. Slotto says:
    September 13, 2015 at 6:43 am

    After nursing, I studied and passed the tests the country gave to be a librarian and was interviewed. Of course, didn’t get the job. Sometimes I wonder…if I had life to do over again, this is a consideration.

    BTW, my novel “The Sin of His Father” is free on Kindle today and tomorrow…if you know anyone who might be interested.

    LikeLiked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Jamie Dedes says:
      September 13, 2015 at 9:37 am

      Thanks, Victoria. I’ll check it out.

      LikeLiked by 1 person

      Reply
  7. scillagrace says:
    September 13, 2015 at 3:33 am

    Recently read a story in a back issue of the Sun magazine about how it felt to be denied a library card because the author was at that time homeless. No permanent address; no card. Very sad. Steve often asks me if I remember the day I got my first library card. It seems to be one of only a few specific childhood memories he has himself.

    LikeLiked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Jamie Dedes says:
      September 13, 2015 at 3:57 am

      Yes! I think you have to have an address to get a card and it is sad. That’s something we can do for homeless that is easy and kind.

      Do you remember when you got your first card, Priscilla?

      LikeLiked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. scillagrace says:
        September 13, 2015 at 10:41 am

        Not really, but I do vividly remember taking my daughter Susan to get hers. The library was built from an old farmhouse with a silo attached. Susan loved to sit in the window box upstairs in the Young Adults section, though the children’s section was in the basement. They built a new, modern library at the end of our subdivision where a dairy farm had been a few years later.

        LikeLiked by 1 person

        Reply
        1. Jamie Dedes says:
          September 13, 2015 at 10:50 am

          Lovely!

          LikeLiked by 1 person

          Reply

Thank you! Cancel reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Post navigation

Previous Previous post: Would that it were possible to undo things done …
Next Next post: Happy Rosh Hashana רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה to my Jewish friends “Shanah Tovah Umetukah”

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 6,921 other followers

“This virus is teaching us that from now on living wages, guaranteed health-care for all, unemployment and labor rights are not far left issues, but issues of right versus wrong, life versus death.” Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, American Protestant minister and political activist. Rev. Barber is the author of several recommended books. His Amazon page is HERE.

“To paraphrase Tolstoy, you many not be interested in war, conflict, environmental injustice, and human rights abuses, but they are interested in you. They stalk everyone.” / Jamie Dedes

“I want my friends to understand that “staying out of politics” or being “sick of politics” is privilege in action. Your privilege allows you to live a non-political existence. Your wealth, your race, your abilities or your gender allows you to live a life in which you likely will not be a target of bigotry, attacks, deportation, or genocide.  You don’t want to get political, you don’t want to fight because your life and safety are not at stake.

“It is hard and exhausting to bring up issues of oppression (aka “get political”). The fighting is tiring. I get it.  Self-care is essential.  But if you find politics annoying and you just want everyone to be nice, please know that people are literally fighting for their lives and safety. You might not see it, but that’s what privilege does.”  /  Kristen Tea, motherwiselife.org

Pages

  • About
  • CDR Resource List
  • Disclosure
  • Recommended Reading, Gifts & Supplies
  • Testimonials
  • The Doves Have Flown & Other Poems

Google Translate

Trending

  • A Lover from Palestine, poem by Mahmoud Darwish
    A Lover from Palestine, poem by Mahmoud Darwish
  • "Ithaca", a poem by C. P. Cavafy. This was Jackie Kennedy's favorite poem. It was read at her memorial service.
    "Ithaca", a poem by C. P. Cavafy. This was Jackie Kennedy's favorite poem. It was read at her memorial service.
  • Footprints In Your Heart, Eleanor Roosevelt's wisdom poem
    Footprints In Your Heart, Eleanor Roosevelt's wisdom poem
  • I Never Saw Another Butterfly, a poem written by the child, Pavel Freidman (short bio included), before he was murdered at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp
    I Never Saw Another Butterfly, a poem written by the child, Pavel Freidman (short bio included), before he was murdered at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp
  • "Love takes off the masks ....", James Baldwin
    "Love takes off the masks ....", James Baldwin
  • THERE ARE MEN TOO GENTLE TO LIVE AMONG WOLVES, James Kavanaugh and his poetry
    THERE ARE MEN TOO GENTLE TO LIVE AMONG WOLVES, James Kavanaugh and his poetry
  • "Embarrassed" - British Poet, Hollie McNish, delivers a rhymed and reasoned defense of breastfeeding in public
    "Embarrassed" - British Poet, Hollie McNish, delivers a rhymed and reasoned defense of breastfeeding in public
  • Depression era moms and a poem by Langston Hughes
    Depression era moms and a poem by Langston Hughes
  • Langston Hughes' Poetic Homage to Helen Keller
    Langston Hughes' Poetic Homage to Helen Keller
  • Claude McKay, Gifted Writer of the Harlem Renaissance (1918-mid-1930s); "If We Must Die"
    Claude McKay, Gifted Writer of the Harlem Renaissance (1918-mid-1930s); "If We Must Die"

Social

  • View jamiededes’s profile on Facebook
  • View @JamieDedes’s profile on Twitter

The Poet by Day WebZine

  • Over 522,000 views by and more than 156,000 visits from poets, writers and lovers of literature and art
  • Over 25,000 comments by poets and friends
  • Nearly 6,900 subscribers via WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and eMail.
  • Opportunities: Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events and Other Information and News
  • Support for Freedom of Expression; Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice
  • Wednesday Writing Prompt, see your poems on theme published the following Tuesday
  • Enjoy poems and poets, including underrepresented voices and poets just finding their voices in maturity

Rock with us …

“A poet’s work . . . to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep.”  Salman Rushdie

September 2015
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« Aug   Oct »

Recent Comments

Jamie Dedes on “Night Mail” by W.…
Irene aarons on “Night Mail” by W.…
Jamie Dedes on “Night Mail” by W.…
anjum wasim dar on “Night Mail” by W.…
anjum wasim dar on With Twice Found Hope and Tend…

(c) The Poet by Day

Unless otherwise noted, the content of this blog, including the photos and text (poems, essays, stories, feature articles), are owned by Jamie Dedes. Links and short excerpts of a post (up to 5 lines) may be used with credit and a link back the post or you may use the Word Press reblog function.

Please do not copy, print or post the work of guest poets, writers and photographers without their permission. Leave a comment on the post and I’ll put you in touch.

Photographs of recommended products are generally the property of the producer.

Contact thepoetbyday@gmail.com with questions or for permissions.

The Poet by Day is an information hub for poets and writers. Featured each week  are Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events and other useful news. Responses to WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPTS are published on the following Tuesday. SEND ANNOUNCEMENTS AND PRESS RELEASES to thepoetbyday@gmail.com

Actively supports freedom of expression, sustainability and human rights.

The BeZine fosters understanding through a shared love of the arts and humanities and all things spirited; seeks to make a contribution toward personal healing and deference for the diverse ways people try to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of a world in which illness, violence, despair, loneliness and death are as prevalent as hope, friendship, reason and birth. Submissions to Jamie Dedes bardogroup@gmail.com

Actively supports peace, environmental sustainability, social justice and a life of the spirit.

THE BeZine: The BeZine

Poetry Chef Michael Dickel brews a Mindblower, concocts ugly- allusions with beautiful- imagery on rough pleats of old political denims.

Poetry Chef Michael Dickel brews  a Mindblower, concocts ugly- allusions  with beautiful- imagery on rough pleats of old  political denims.

Originally posted on TIME OF THE POET REPUBLIC:
The resistance poet in Poetry Chef Michael Dickel wields his frying spoon with that amazing verve of a militant word-master and that astounding zeal of a chronicler cum griot cum protest poet. He fries and roasts the 6th January American political gaffe into a beautiful poetry gourmet…

The BeZine December 2020, Vol. 7, Issue 4—Life of the Spirit and Activism

Introduction What a year 2020 has been: global pandemic, international instabilities, U.S. election turmoil. So much. We here at The BeZine have suffered a personal loss, as well, with the passing of G Jamie Dedes, our Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief emerita. Jamie led us with light, gentleness, and love. Jamie may be gone, but her […]

In Memoriam: Jamie Dedes, Founding Editor

We received this note November 8, 2020. We lost our beloved founding editor and editor-in-chief emerita on 06 November of this year. We all will miss her. She was a loving, caring, and creative person who gave everything to her art, to others, and to the causes of peace, social justice, and sustainability. Most of […]

Progression of Buts, &c. | Robert Priest

Progression of Buts, &c. | Robert Priest
Four poems by Canadian poet, musician, and children’s author Robert Priest—commentaries on our times. Check them out on The BeZine Blog.

Spare Guardian

Spare Guardian Floating Away
by M.S. Evans
Three poems and three complementary artworks by M.S. Evans: Spare Change, Guardian of Keepsakes, and Kicked out are the words; Floating Away, Bronx Botanical Garden, and Backdoor are the art.

The Bax

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


♥

Baxter Dedes
2006 – May 17, 2017 6:06 pm

Bob Seger Dedes

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Gypsy Rose Grandkitty


 

Original Watercolors


by Getchen Del Rio

© Dahlia Grandkitty

Dahlia is a Ragdoll

Enjoying New Toy

In new house

Website Powered by WordPress.com.
  • About
  • Testimonials
  • CDR Resource List
  • Recommended Reading, Gifts & Supplies
  • Disclosure
  • POEMS: “The Doves Have Flown” & others by Jamie Dedes
Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: