But the important thing is today's trip! I was so fascinated by Gimme Shelter, and lately I've been much more into non-fiction than fiction, so I figured I'd watch another of the Maysles brothers' movies. And since every copy of Grey Gardens in the Brooklyn Library system is either on hold or checked out, Salesman, a documentary on door-to-door salesmen made in 1968, seemed like a good option. I chose the Walt Whitman Branch because it had a cool name and I could bike to it. Finding out it had Howard Zinn's memoir, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, sealed the deal.
Branch: Walt Whitman
Location: 93 Saint Edwards St. (between Myrtle and Park Avenues)
Transport: bicycle
Items: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn; Salesman (DVD)
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2007
I hopped on my bike today at about 12:35 or 12:40, and I got to the library right around 12:54. By the time I had locked up my bike it was bout 12:55 (sigh), four minutes before the library's scheduled opening time, and there was a crowd of about half a dozen people waiting outside the door. When the man in charge of opening the doors arrived, we all started shuffling towards them, but he said it wasn't time yet and locked them behind him. This was annoying, it being 12:57 at this point, and two people in the crowd expressed that fact better than I could have. One man pointed out that it was a little ridiculous that libraries open at 1:00 pm to begin with, a practice that most branches engage in two to three times a week. The woman right in front of me mentioned that in the past (I believe she said at different branches, but nonetheless) they sometimes didn't open until five or even ten after one, so their holding out for an extra three minutes today was a bit ridiculous. When the doors did open and we went inside, the first face we saw was a police officer's. I wondered if maybe they had been waiting for him to arrive before opening, which was a bit depressing.
The last stretch of my bike ride was between the Long Island University: Brooklyn Campus's football field and Fort Greene Park, but the library itself is right in the middle of some housing projects, which as always don't seem dangerous to me as much as soul-crushing. The library building was nice though, just a large room with one floor and a mezzanine, and a small but worthwhile selection. I was a little disappointed when I noticed/remembered that most people these days just use libraries to read newspapers or use the internet for free, but it is nice that people can do those things, even if they are most often just checking their myspace accounts. Hey - we all do!
The only other addition is that I had an oddly difficult time finding the fiction, which was put in a corner next to the young adult section in such a way that I wandered around aimlessly for about five minutes looking for it before giving up and asking a librarian. It took a while to get to where I could ask her, though, because she was deeply involved in a conversation with the other librarian about the state of classrooms these days. What I took away from it was that while these days kids don't hesitate to throw around an "f you" or a (here her voice lowered to the point that I basically have to make up what she was saying) "suck my dick," the teachers can't really concentrate on that, because it's more important that they make sure the kids pick up even the most rudimentary reading and writing skills. A "pick your battles" type scenario. Then again, I got those skills, and now I'm an unemployed college graduate who can't even find the fiction in a library, so who's to say. Pretty uplifting experience in any case. But I'm expecting the Zinn memoir to be fairly uplifting, as it discusses his experiences in the civil rights movement and opposing wars. Of course, the documentary will bring me right back down. Sigh. Picture time!
Closer!
Further!
This church was across the street, and I thought it looked really great. Sort of a bright spot in the area.
And, here's what the buildings looked like. I'm not sure if they actually set out to make housing projects look so oppressive or if it's just the natural course of things. There was a nice view of the Empire State Building though.
That's it for today, but who knows, I may be back tomorrow! Or Saturday, or maybe Sunday...sometime next week anyway.
5 comments:
Soul crushing indeed, the librarian was probably trying to mutter as she whispered forth god's chosen words: "Suck my kisssss"
Hey, nice blog! Looks like you've been pretty busy. I kind of laughed at the crowd waiting to get into the library, not at the people per say...but at the thoughts that must have been going through the librarians head while walking through the crowd of eager readers.
haha library crowds, such a tough bunch.
Sometimes there is a line to get into the Wedge co-op in the mornings (I see it as I drive to work) and I always wonder who needs their organic food that badly so early in the morning. But now I understand - there is a whole culture of "these types" who wait in lines - at the library, the co-op.....
it was one pm for god's sake!
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