In 2009, the public library system of New Haven welcomed 812,348 visits from patrons, city residents and visitors. Because my desk faces the front entrance, I can attest that the Main Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library sees a lot of action. I am always amazed that despite the high traffic and sometimes boisterous greetings among friends in the lobby, the “quiet zones” remain as soundless oases.

One of my busier library experiences was during the opening weekend of the new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco in 2008. Amid the dazzling dioramas, aquarium and living rain forest, was a resource library overflowing with visitors browsing collections of books and specimens. The materials were different, but the energy was the same as NHFPL is tonight.

On the lower floor of New Haven Free Public Library’s Main Branch, there is a section of bookcases that are gated off from the public. This area is called the Closed Stacks. This space is an archive of the books of yesteryear. When books have low circulation numbers but are still historic gems, the library keeps them in the Closed Stacks to be retrieved by a librarian upon patron request. On the main floor facing the circulation desk sits a petite bookcase with rotating titles labeled “Treasures from the Stacks.” My finds today are musically themed.

Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-18, Vol. X!V: Eskimo Songs
Songs of the Copper Eskimos
Written by Helen H. Roberts and D. Jennes
Published in 1925

I am in awe of how much effort this researchers put into documenting every note and syllable of these traditional and possible now extinct songs.

The Cinema Organ
Written by Reginald Foort
Published in 1970

My first thought when thumbing through this book was of the 2011 ode to silent films The Artist that brings us back to 1920s Hollywood. I then remembered visiting my elderly neighbor as a child to hear stories of her days as a flapper. Rose played piano during silent films in New York in her younger days. I realize that my children may not hear first-hand accounts of Coney Island in the roaring 20s, and am glad the the Closed Stacks preserves  the stories of cinema organs and Eskimo songs.

Ismael “Lito Floes” Correa is one of the many talented poets of New Haven that frequent NHFPL. His organization, Global Poetry Crew, runs a Poets Circle the last Saturday of every month on the New Haven Green in support of the city’s homeless population. Find more information at http://www.globalpoetrycrew.org.

Watch Ismael perform:

Read some of his new material:

2morrow and together

You against me or your not
tell me what you all about
seriously,
I made this my fight
My bout
Because I made amends with the guilty side conscious
like looking around
twisting around is this my sound
-Na,
I don’t even think so
My sound  my battle is totally different
its totally in the distance
as for instence the girl I want feels close to me
like a fill in of cherie chilli bombs and bell peppers
but they are to big
for now or nevers
i guess now or never is 2morrow and together.

iLibrary is an art piece by New Haven Free Public Library’s

Artist in Residence
Heather Lawless

in conjunction with Library Science, an exhibit at Artspace
November 12, 2011 – January 28, 2012

Find the artist in the NHFPL lobby
Tuesdays and Thurdays 6:30-8pm and Saturdays 12-3pm
and participate in iLibrary