Beyond Books: A Library’s Story (Guest Post by Kimberly Behre Kenna)
-A pair of bronze doors weighing in around 2,000 pounds
-An 12,500 square foot octagonal rotunda, paved with marble, mosaic floor tiles designed in
Paris
-A fifty foot high dome illustrated with eight paintings of the evolution of bookmaking
One could argue that the historic James Blackstone Memorial Library in my hometown of Branford, CT, is inherently flush with stories thanks to these magnificent details. Every time I visit, something new speaks to me, and I wonder…
How did they create those enormous doors, and what do the pictures on them signify?
How many people worked on the tiled floor, and how long did it take to make everything line up so perfectly?
Wasn’t it scary to work on such detailed paintings so high up?
The answers to my questions, or lack of them, provide sparks for shelves full of stories. The library is a simmering cauldron for ideas, and for this I am forever grateful. Let me explain.
-Eight medallion portraits
While writing my new middle-grade novel, Jett Jamison and the Secret Storm, some of the first clues to nudge me out of a stuck spot came when I looked up at the library’s dome. Two of the eight New England authors depicted in medallions called to me: Harriet Beecher Stowe whose book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was challenged for being anti-slavery and Ralph Waldo Emerson whose ideas about individualism in Self Reliance were criticized for going against the traditions of organized religion. In Jett’s story, these authors offer her clues about recovering a controversial missing book. Above the portraits, the bookmaking paintings illustrate how words and stories evolved and were shared, first as verbal retellings and much later, in print. In those scenes, voices become elevated…as far as we can tell from the pictures. These dome paintings remind Jett that the creation of books is and was a worthwhile challenge, but later she also comes to understand that books can be challenged, and voices erased.
-127 years of serving as a vibrant community center
The Blackstone Library is in my genes. It was my mother’s escape when she was a child. With two parents and four siblings sharing a small home, she craved quiet time, and every day she walked to the library to get it. On her way, she’d stop to chat with the nuns at the church across the street. Jett Jamison and the Secret Storm grew in part from these story seeds, and the Wisteria Library is modeled on the Blackstone. Though fiction, Jett’s story was inspired by facts: a girl finds peace at a library, a nun she befriends helps her problem-solve, and books become not only a means of escape but also a way to survive the present.
-13 granite front steps, each 33 feet wide
These massive steps leading to the library’s front entrance speak to me of challenges, both past and present, that threaten the very ideals a library stands for: community, diversity, and education. Through the years, libraries have had to be resilient in order to adapt and evolve. In my story, when Jett discovers that the book promising to quiet the creepy voices in her head has disappeared off library shelves, she must bravely explore new ways to heal.
-40 by 50 foot auditorium with superior acoustics, housing a wooden stage set in a circular niche
On August 12th, I’ll launch Jett Jamison in this auditorium and converse with the youth services librarian about censorship, silenced voices, and the power of joined voices. The Wisteria Library is Jett’s safe space until she witnesses troubling events demonstrating the unreasonable pressure facing libraries and librarians today. This place that was sacred to Jett becomes yet another victim of injustice, and she decides to right the wrong. Along the way, she must grapple with her own silenced voice as she allows buried memories of abuse to rise into her consciousness. As a childhood trauma survivor myself, I wonder how my life would’ve been different if I’d had access to books with characters like me. Now that I’m an author, I get to remedy that. In my book, someone finally starts a vital conversation with Jett, and it is in the library that Jett releases her secret and tells her story. Kids need to read books about the challenges they live with. Librarians can help them make those connections. Libraries provide a platform for promoting dialogue and understanding.
To the eye, the James Blackstone Library appears quite elaborate. But to me, its story goes much deeper. It speaks of something extremely simple, the magic of diverse voices, and it’s up to all of us to embrace this gift.
Comments
Post a Comment