New Museum Pass – DIA Beacon

Dia Beacon

“Occupying a former Nabisco box-printing factory on the banks of the Hudson River, Dia Beacon presents the majority of Dia’s collection of art from the 1960s to the present as well as special exhibitions, new commissions, andpublic and education programs. Since its opening in May 2003, Dia Beacon has helped transform the city of Beacon into a vibrant arts destination forvisitors from the region, New York City, and beyond.” -from Dia website

Pick Up/Return at Library (2-Day Pass)

The Syosset Public Library Membership includes: two (2) membership cards. Each pass includes free admission to Dia Beacon for up to six guests per card, free admission for accompanying children 18 and under.

Closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Visit the Dia Beacon website for more information regarding visiting hours and exhibits. To make a reservation, please visit the museum pass page on our website or call the Reference Desk to speak with a librarian.

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-posted by Sonia, Reference Services

It’s April, National Poetry Month!

Do you read or write poetry? Do you have a favorite poet?

I was thinking of the various poets I have enjoyed. When I was a child my mother would read from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses.  And my father would recite Edgar Allen Poe. As I got a little older, I was introduced to Paul Laurence Dunbar. Of course! He was from Dayton, Ohio not far from where we lived. During my years of fascination with the American Revolution, Philp Freneau became required reading. There is always someone new to discover! Shame on me: I only recently heard of Edwin Arlington Robinson and he won the Pulitzer Prize. Three times!

The Academy of American Poets launched the celebration of poetry month in 1996. You can check their website  for ways to celebrate. The site suggests many ways to explore poetry and poets. For example, did you hear Amanda Gorman’s presentation at Joe Biden’s inauguration this year? Check here for a discussion of previous inaugural poems.

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Are you intrigued? Syosset Public Library has many books of poetry as well as biographies and books of interpretation and criticism.  There are also volumes of collected poems to allow you to sample different themes and styles. The Penguin Anthology of 20^th Century American Poetry is a good place to start. And there is the two-volume set titled American Poetry: The Twentieth Century. For a more international selection check the three-volume set World Poets.

There are many ways to explore poetry at home. The Poetry Foundation (the publisher of Poetry Magazine) aims to broaden the audience for poetry by providing online resources. You can discover poems on various subjects by looking at the collections tab: try poems celebrating the environment, or mothers or food. There is an option to listen to the poem of the day. Are you interested in sharing poetry with children ? There’s a selection here! There are videos to accompany some of the readings.

You can discover new poets by subscribing to the “poem a day” email. Each day you will receive a poem which you can listen to or read.

Here’s one to start you off: “How to Eat a Poem” by Eve Merriam,

Don’t be polite.

Bite in.

Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that

May run down your chin.

It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or form or spoon

 Or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

 For there is no core

 Or stem

  or rind

  or pit

  or seed

  or skin

  to throw away.

-posted by Brenda, Reference Services

May’s Book Displays

On the Main Floor

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Bestsellers You Might Have Missed is a collection of great reads, selected by the Readers’ Services Department. You’re sure to find something of interest. Also on this display are handouts with information about the various book discussions at Syosset Library.

From Blog to Book (Every Blogger’s Dream) highlights books written by bloggers covering many topics, such as cooking, baking, decorating, arts and crafts, and clothes styles. If you have a favorite blogger, take a look to see if he or she has published a book.

Mini-displays*

In Theaters May 10 ‘JRR Tolkien’ is a display of his books both in print and audio formats, as well as DVDs of films based on his books to coincide with the premiere of the documentary about him.

Become A Grill Master – Ultimate tips, techniques, and recipes for the perfect barbecue.

*Mini-displays are subject to change during the month.

On the Third Floor

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The theme for the health librarian’s display is May is Better Sleep Month. There are guides to getting a better night’s sleep, help for insomniacs, and treating sleep apnea. Learn how sleep affects your overall health at every stage of life. As always, free handouts are included in this display.

Poetry – Celebrating Long Island’s Own Walt Whitman on the 200th Anniversary of His Birth are a collection of poetry books written by Whitman, and books written about him and his art. On May 31 at 2 PM, Syosset Library will present the film Walt Whitman at 200, which will be followed by a short discussion.

-posted by Betty, Reference Services

Celebrating Walt Whitman on the 200th Anniversary of his Birth

Walt Whitman, perhaps best known as the poet of the Leaves of Grass, was born in Huntington on May 31, 1819. He was the second of nine children born to Walter and Louisa Whitman. The family soon moved to Brooklyn where Whitman attended the local schools. He was a voracious reader and was largely self-educated.

Of course, most of us know him as a poet. America’s poet. The poet of democracy. But did you know that he was also a printer, carpenter, civil servant, the founder and editor of the Huntington-based Long Islander newspaper and a teacher in several one-room schools? During the Civil War he traveled to Washington, DC to care for his wounded brother and then stayed to nurse and comfort other wounded soldiers, even writing letters home for them. Out of these varied experiences came many poems and prose works.

There is a rich online archive of his original works as well as commentary, criticism of his writings and biographical information at the Walt Whitman Archive. The Library of Congress  has a treasure trove of Whitman material. Would you like to be part of the effort by the Library of Congress to make accessible more of Whitman’s work? You can! There is a crowdsourcing campaign where you can transcribe drafts of his poetry, prose and correspondence.

After suffering a stroke in 1873, Whitman moved to Camden, NJ where his brother lived.

Maybe his poem, “Song of the Open Road,” will inspire you to take a drive to NJ to visit the home he bought in Camden (1884) and where he eventually died (1892).

“Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,

Healthy, free, the world before me,

The long brown path before me, leading me wherever I choose…

Allons! whoever you are! come forth!

You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house, though you built it, or though it has been built for you….

Allons! be not detain’d!…

Allons! the road is before us!”

Closer to home is the Walt Whitman Birthplace, the house his father built and where he was born. Call the library to reserve the museum pass. And come to the third floor to see the display of books celebrating Whitman’s life and influence.

On May 31 the library is showing a documentary about his life, followed by a discussion led by librarian Sonia Grgas.

-posted by Brenda, Reference Services

 

5 Years of the Blog – April

Let’s take a look at some of Syosset Public Library’s blog posts in April during the past five years:

2018: APRIL’S ART DISPLAY

2017: WHAT WE’RE READING NOW- AUDIOBOOK EDITION

2016: BROADWAY MUSICALS AND PLAYS—BASED ON, INSPIRED BY, OR ADAPTED FROM BOOKS

2015: APRIL: A BUSY TIME FOR HISTORY BUFFS

2014: PUT A POEM IN YOUR POCKET TODAY

See you next month when we take a look at the past 5 years in May.

-posted by Sonia, Reference Services

Five Years on the Blog: June

Welcome back to what has become a regular monthly activity: A walk through some of  Syosset RandR’s blog posts for the past five years:

2016: What We’re Reading Now

2015: New and Exciting Museum Exhibits for Summer

2014: Read to Children Beginning at Birth

2013: The Battle of Gettysburg: 150 Years Ago

2012: Monthly Book Club Recap: Room by Emma Donohue

Watch out for our next look down blog memory lane again in July!

-posted by Sonia, Reference Services

Five Years on the Blog: April

Today we’re to going reminisce a bit and take a look at some of Syosset RandR’s blog posts for April during the past five years:

2016: Audiobooks We LIke

2015: Earth Day’s 45th Anniversary

2014: Put a Poem in Your Pocket Today

2013: Why Not a Mystery?

2012: 5 for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction

Watch out for our next look down blog memory lane again in May!

-posted by Sonia, Reference Services

April is National Poetry Month…

Do you like poetry? Come up to the Library’s third floor to sample a new poem. We have a bucket filled with copies of poetry for you to enjoy.

Can’t visit the library in person? May I suggest visiting the Library of Congress online? The venerable LC has so many hidden treasures. This month I suggest looking at Poetry 180.

This project by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins offers a selection of poems for each day in the school year. Its target audience is high school students but it is open to everyone. It is a great way to discover new poets and their works:  “The Bagel” made me smile; every parent can identify with “To a Daughter Leaving Home.”

Poems are wonderful to read but they are even better when you hear them. So check out the LC’s Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature. This amazing source has audio recordings of many famous poets as well as lectures about poetry. There is an interview with Robert Frost (1959) which includes him reading some of his work. And Archibald MacLeish reads and comments on his poetry in 1963. You also can hear Margaret Atwood, Alan Dugan (I just discovered his “On the Long Island Railroad System”), Joyce Carol Oates, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Pinsky and Gwendolyn Brooks.

The Poetry Foundation  is another great resource. You can listen to the works by such people as Dylan Thomas, Paul Laurence Dunbar, John Dunne,Gerard Manley Hopkins and Robert Frost   You can search the Foundation’s collection of poems. They have a section of poems under 25 lines  and another section of poems by literary forms and terms.

Glance at any of these sites and you just might be inspired to write a line or two of poetry yourself. Or you might discover a discover something special! I liked this one by the 17thcentury poet Duchess of Newcastle Margaret Cavendish, “An Apology for Her Poetry.” It ends with the lines:

“Consider, pray, gold hath no life therein.”

-posted by Brenda, Reference Services