Maple Valley Branch Library, 1967

A portion of the poem
Maple Valley Branch Library, 1967
by Rita Dove

As for the improbable librarian
with her salt and paprika upsweep,
her British accent and sweater clip
(mom of a kid I knew from school) –
I'd go up to her desk and ask for help
on bareback rodeo or binary codes,
phonics, Gestalt theory,
lead poisoning in the Late Roman Empire,
the play of light in Dutch Renaissance painting;
I would claim to be researching
pre-Colombian pottery or Chinese foot-binding,
but all I wanted to know was:
Tell me what you've read that keeps
that half smile afloat
above the collar of your impeccable blouse.

From Where Books Fall Open: A Reader's Anthology of Wit and Passion
Painting by Bascove.

Comments

[Pete]

Lovely Bascove painting. Reminds me of the Reference Library at the University of Illinois, where I used to study for hours on end.

[iliana]

Love the painting and love the poem. Thanks for sharing!

[R J Keefe]

Bascove's painting bears a very strong resemblance to the New York Public Library's Research Room(s).
The poem is lovely. I hope that the poet found out.

[Lauren Cerand]

Gorgeous post! -- it reminds me of something only tangentially related that I think you'd enjoy: The "Maple Valley Public Library" comic storyline in Ariel Bordeaux's (www.arielbordeaux.com) Raisin Pie series (available from Fantagraphics.com).... It's really quite brilliant.