I Supported My Local Library, And The Next Thing I Knew I Had Collaborative Partners For Possible Work

Great YA collection at the Stratford Library.

I decided early yesterday morning that I needed to get out of my house to write. I spent the morning reading 30+ articles on violence in English classrooms and I needed a space to begin processing all that I was learning. I remembered my library membership was do, so I ventured down to the Stratford Public Library to get away from the puppy who can't chew on anything unless she's in my lap, in my ears, or up my nose.

All the tables were taken, so I looked around and saw there was a TEEN section, ventured over, and found a space there. It was during the school day, so the area was quiet. When a librarian walked over and sat at her desk, I introduced myself and the next thing I knew I was hearing about all the fantastic teen programs the library has and how they have been looking for an organization to partner with so they'd be more competitive for local, state and national grants. Lightbulbs began going off all over my head.

I laughed, too, because when I arrived, there was a copy of Matt de la Peña's The Living lying as a book on CD. I thought to myself, "I've found a home away from home." 

The librarian then introduced me to other librarians and before I knew it was given a tour of the facility and all the possible locations I might use for graduate courses or writing programs. I was told that the Stratford Public library has the largest teen collection of young adult literature in the state and that they've been celebrated for almost 30 years of teen programming (similar to CWP-Fairfield). We exchanged cards and I went back to annotating my research.

That's when I came across a short piece written by my intellectual mentor, Dr. Alfred Tatum. All roads lead back to the sage and I was pleased to read in one of his pieces a poem that he'd written (man! he's a poet, too...what can't he do?). Although I didn't complete all my academic goals for the day, I feel the sculpture is a little more nicked and molded. 

In an early assertion, I can say that there's been a few articles depicting the importance of wrestling with violence in the English classrooms, but I've yet to read one that demonstrates the deconstruction taught to me by Jan Arnow in my years of working with the No More Violence program. That is why I think it's important that I keep hammering away at what it is I want to say.

Kelly always said I was a writer who wrote to find out what I know more than others she's worked with. Following Sari Biklen, I simply cast the net wide and see what I can pull in. I have a satchel full of thoughts, articles, experiences, and studies. Now I need to make sense of them and chisel out a piece of writing that articulates what I've set out to find out.