76 Trombones

Seventy six trombones led the big parade. Well, maybe not, but come this Sunday, the Ledyard Memorial Day Parade will march up Colonel Ledyard Highway. Participating, once again, this year will be your own librarians from the Ledyard Public Library. The library has been a constant presense in the Memorial Day parade for over fifteen years. Not only a regular participant, but a trophy winning entry and we have the trophy to prove it at Gales Ferry Library.

Over the years, we have been everything from sea creatures to African adventurers, with a few jungle animals thrown in. Intrepid librarians have dressed up in spots, long flowing gowns and duck- billed hats, all in the name of community fun. We are the ones passing out bookmarks and candy too.

This year, again, we should be easy to spot. Just look for the bright yellow bins! Several years ago, Wendy Peterson, a library patron, originated the School Friends of the Library program. With a grant from the Dime Savings Bank, the library was able to purchase additional children's books and bright yellow bins to transport the books to elementary classrooms in Ledyard by volunteer parents. Let's just say, we have found another creative way to use the bins.

Since the summer reading theme is Catch the Reading Bug, look for bins and bugs in Ledyard Center on Sunday at 1:00.

Ledyard Library Friends

We all appreciate our friends. They may not be named Phoebe, Ross or Monica but they are near and dear to to us. The library is no different.

Most of the year, our friends are behind the scenes. You may not even know they are there, but we do. Twice a year, however, they shine. The Gales Ferry Library booksale starts on May 29 this year. If you are a dues paying member of the Ledyard Library Friends, you can come to the sneak peak on May 28 from 6:00 to 8:00. The Bill Booksale will take place in early September, the week after Labor Day and overlapping with the Ledyard Fair. These two events are the cornerstones of the fundraising efforts done by the Ledyard Library Friends.

Many of the items you take for granted in our libraries, would not even exist without the generosity of the Ledyard Library Friends. Programs, shelves, tables, computer desks, printers and media racks would all disappear if we lived in a friendless world.

The most amazing part of this is, however, is the small number of people who accomplish so much. It would seem if we had more friends, it would make life easier for the friends we have now and give the library even more to appreciate.

Do we have more friends out there? Ask how to participate in the Ledyard Library Friends at either library or when you visit the booksale.

Things They Never Taught You at Library School

Interesting things seem to happen nearly every day when you work in a library. Many of them are easily addressed by the wonderful course offerings librarians have sat through. Reference, cataloging, material selection and computer courses are very handy in solving the do you have" and "how do I find" problems. Every so often, however, something happens that you never were taught at library school.

Here is our quick list.

- squirrel mouth to mouth resuscitation (when the cute baby squirrels that fall out of the tree in front of the library are barely breathing)

-plunging toilets (the lady's room toilet is plugged again and you get to plunge it because you earn the big bucks)

-catching mice (what do you do when a little mouse runs across the floor)

-removing cars from the building (somebody missed the brake)

-cleaning up body fluids (use your imagination here)

-restarting the furnace (can't pay a repairman to come on the weekend)

-getting a cat out from under a car (patron won't leave until cat is removed)

That's our list, now please tell us yours.

National Library Week

In case you missed it, this past week was designated as National Library Week. Of course, here at the Ledyard Public Libraries, we think every week should be library week. We are possibly a little prejudiced.

Through history, however, there have been many famous people who valued libraries. In Love's Labour's Lost, William Shakespeare wrote "They are the books, the arts, the academes, that show, contain and nourish all the world." Many years later, Lady Bird Johnson expressed her appreciation of libraries, "Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest." The famous author Lemony Snicket said "A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them."

I am sure Charles Schulz was a library fan. This week, a special patron of the Gales Ferry Library brought us a Peanut's cartoon about librarians and a lovely treat to celebrate National Library Week. Those of us who work in libraries understand their unique place in the community and it is always nice to have that celebrated.

Hopefully you won't suffer the fate of 19th century observer, Tom Masson, who said, "Seventy million books in America's libraries, but the one you want to read is always out." If only poor Tom had known to check with his librarian. I am sure she could have gotten it for him quickly through interlibrary loan or easily recommended a similiar title.

Magical History Tour

If the weather cooperates this Saturday, local historians Jan Bell and Kit Foster will be leading a walking tour of Gales Ferry Village. Even though I have lived in Gales Ferry for nearly thirty years, I know there is much I can learn from these two experts. Jan, who has authored several histories of the town, has actually lived in town for over seventy years. Kit is the author of the popular Images of America book, Ledyard and Gales Ferry. Coincidentally, these items are available for sale at the local libraries.

There are many questions about and places to explore in our fair village. Do you know where the original Gales Ferry Library was located? How about Norman's store or the Gales Ferry Country Club? What are the origins of the Harvard-Yale Regatta? Or is it the Yale-Harvard Regatta? Probably the biggest question is the name of the village. Why is it called Gales Ferry, when Roger Gale only owned the ferry for five years and others ran it much longer? We are also looking for the apostrophe that fell off Gale's at some unknown point.

So many questions, so many places on so few streets! Come walk with us and get to know our hometown.

Bracketology

I am not sure that bracketology is even a word. I am pretty sure it isn't in Websters, but it is definitely part of your vocabulary every March, if you are like millions of people who fill out those brackets for the NCAA mens, or maybe womens, basketball tournaments. ESPN even employs a full time bracketologist, although I am not sure what he does the rest of the year. Now that the tournaments have reached the sweet sixteen, you may, like me, just want to throw the thing out before another of your final four teams loses.

The fascination with brackets, however, continues. Just think what we could do with brackets in the literary world. We could start with a field of 64 contemporary authors. The heavy hitters like James Patterson, Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts and John Grisham would get number 1 seeds, with competition from the likes of Mary Higgins Clark, Janet Evanovich, Stephen King and David Baldacci, while the mid-majors Steve Martini, Lisa Scottoline, Joy Fielding and Jeffrey Archer are probably 4th or 5th seeds. I hesitate to put anyone in the "just barely made it" sixteenth seeds, but they should be happy just to be included. I am sure there will be complaints from those who get left out. For them, we will have to invent an A.I.T. (Authors Invitational Tournament).

Who would be your final four picks? The heavy hitters prevail or an upstart winner like Sophie Kinsella?

Beware the Ides of March

Ever since poor old Julius Caesar bit the dust on March 15, 44 B.C., the ides have gotten a bad name. A sense of impending doom or dire predictions seems to hover over a perfectly innocent day. The soothsayer who told Julius to "beward the ides of March" probably knew that March 15 wasn't going to be a very good day for the dictator, but did he have to consign it to ignomy.

No one says bad things about the ides of any other month. In fact, until I began doing some research on the ides of March, I had no idea that there were ides in other months. The ides of May, July and October are also on the 15th. In the other months, however, they are on the 13th. If I wanted to spend more time on this interesting subject, I could probably come up with a reason to malign every other ides, but the ones that fall on Friday the 13th have enough trouble already.

All of this goes back to the Roman calendar. It was centered around not only the ides, but also the kalends (1st day of the month) and the nones (7th day in March, May, July and October and 5th day in all other months).

So brush up on your Shakespeare (Julius Caesar) or your study of Roman history, but I am pretty sure there is no reason for you to beware the ides of March or May or July or October.