Seymour Library
SEYMOUR LIBRARY
Nancy Thomas / May 2018
As I think about the Seymour Library and the impact this special place has on my life, it has evolved. During the 60s it was used as a resource to attack homework assignments, complete research using the encyclopedias (I bet if you asked your children what an encyclopedia is they would not know, gotta love google and the internet). For me, I sometimes wish we could go back to that simpler time where libraries attracted students for knowledge, research and a safe place to go. Now I see the library as my favorite store, with so many books to read, newspapers and magazines to view and a shared interest of reading with all the Seymour library employees and guests and unlike my other favorite stores, a credit card is not necessary, just my library card.
I will share a peculiar thing I use to do about ten years ago when I was working and trying to read at least two books a month. I would go to the new book section of the library and select a bestseller and at that time you could only take out the book for 10 days. The first thing I would do is divide the number of pages in the book by 10, write down the dates with the completed page number on my library slip so that I could keep myself on track to complete the book within 10 days. How nuts is that ???
Currently on Saturdays, I receive an email from the library sharing with me all the new books , this has proven to be a good resource for new authors and great new books. I like the fact that I can go to the library website and research and reserve books and view what I have already read and view recommendations from the library staff. The Seymour Library is part of a group of libraries that share resources. Many times when I pick up a reserved book, it is from Ithaca, Ovid, Wolcott or another library in the Finger Lakes region.
I like to carry a small notebook in my purse and when I hear someone speak about a great book, see something on TV or in the newspaper about a favorite author I am quick to jot it down. I particularly like to see what famous personalities are reading and use this as a resource. There was a great article recently in the Sunday paper about Andrew Lloyd Webber and he is reading “The Age of Decadence Britain 1880-1914” by Simon Heffer. Although it is not yet at the library it is on my list to purchase. I love everything about England. I see there is a new program on WCNY starting 5/22/18 “The Great American Read” hosted by Meredith Vieira and this program will introduce us to the top 100 most loved books and how they influenced people. Check it out.
I’d love to share with you a wonderful nugget of information I learned from reading “First Women: The Grace & Power of America’s Modern First Ladies” by Kate Anderson Brower.
12/1/1963 Jackie Kennedy composes a letter to Soviet Premier Khrushchev just 8 days after the death of her husband and the last letter she wrote on White House stationary. She shares that her late husband stated that Mr Khrushchev “committed a clandestine reckless threat to world peace” and in turn gave her a distinct and powerful role to play in the White House. During those thirteen days she was more than a beautiful, devoted wife; she was a partner. She recognized her husband’s greatest triumphs and breaking through to Soviet Premier Khrushchev and saving the world from nuclear war.
She wrote to Premier Khrushchev:
“You and he were adversaries, but you were allied in a determination that the world should not be blown up. You respected each other and could deal with each other. While big men know the needs for self-control and restraint , little men are sometimes moved more by fear and pride. If only in the future the big men can continue to make the little ones sit down and talk before they start to fight”
This type of insight is needed in the world today.
I love writers who choose their words eloquently. Amor Towels author of “A Gentlemen in Moscow describes poetry as “fencing with a quill”. He also relates speed to “faster than saints going to heaven”. Kathy McKeon, Jackie Kennedy’s personal assistant after the death of JFK and author of “Jackie’s Girl My Life with the Kennedy Family” writes beautifully. Here is a taste of her writing. She describes her interview with “Madame Kennedy”. “The door leading to the apartment’s grander main entryway opened, and an older woman in a black uniform greeted me in a soft Irish brogue. The familiar lilt did nothing to calm my nerves, though; on the contrary, I instantly took note that her accent was nowhere as thick as my own. Nearly a year in New York had done nothing to change it. It was like a porridge that refused to thin no matter how much milk you poured into it.”
I enjoyed reading “Ray and Joan” by Lisa Napoli. She writes about the man, Ray Kroc who made McDonald’s a multi million dollar franchise around the world and his wife Joan, who gave away his fortune and became a leading philanthropist.
Last year while roaming around the library a book cover caught my attention, “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” by Sarit Yishai-Levi written in Hebrew and translated to English and became an international best seller. It is the dazzling story of mothers, daughters, stories told and untold and the ties which bond four generations of women.
So many of us have enjoyed Ken Follett, have you read “A Column of Fire” yet?? I don’t know how he can continue to produce such incredible historical novels.
So there you have it. Seymour Library is a wonderful library and a diamond in our community.
