Love in the Library by Jimmy Buffet
On the corner of Government and Bay Avenue
The old doomsday fanatic wore a crown of kudzu
Sirens where wailing in the gulf coastal heat
And it seemed like the whole world was in forced retreat
I paid no attention, revolved through the door
Passed the newspaper rack on the worn marble floor
Near civil war history my heart skipped a beat
She was standing on fiction stretched high on bare feet
Love in the library, quiet and cool
Love in the library, there are no rules
Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime
I fell in love in the library once upon a time
I was the pirate and she was the queen
Sir Francis and Elizabeth the best there's ever been
Then she strolled past my table and stopped at the stairs
Then sent me a smile as she reached for Flaubert
Love in the library, quiet and cool
Love in the library, there are no rules
Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime
I fell in love in the library once upon a time
She gathered her books, walked while she read
Words never spoken but so much was said
You can read all you want into this rendezvous
But it's safer than most things that lovers can do
Well stories have endings and fantasies fade
The guard by the door starts drawing the shade
So write your own ending and hope they come true
For the lovers and strangers on Bay Avenue
Love in the library, quiet and cool
Love in the library, there are no rules
Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime
I fell in love in the library once upon a time
Here is my post from 2020 celebrating Library Lovers Day.
The Library by Barbara A. Huff
It looks like any building
When you pass it on the street,
Made of stone and glass and marble,
Made of iron and concrete.
But once inside you can ride
A camel or a train,
Visit Rome, Siam, or Nome,
Feel a hurricane,
Meet a king, learn to sing,
How to bake a pie,
Go to sea, plant a tree,
Find how airplanes fly,
Train a horse, and of course
Have all the dogs you'd like,
See the moon, a sandy dune,
Or catch a whopping pike.
Everything that books can bring
You'll find inside those walls.
A world is there for you to share
When adventure calls.
You cannot tell its magic
By the way the building looks,
But there's wonderment within it,
The wonderment of books.
Read more about Libray Lovers' Day here.
IT HAPPENED ONE FRIDAY BY RUTH STREET
ARRIVED AT MY DESK: it was seven forty-five
In swarmed the kids like bees to a hive
All day they buzzed round me with questions so varied
Up down round and round. My beleaguered mind scurried.
"Who wrote LORNA DOONE?” “Will you sign my green slip?
“I hate to miss school but my folks look a trip.”
“I need some material on foreign relations.”
“Do you have a book of familiar quotations?”
“I want to read SMOKY. Is it always out?”
“Will you kindly tell me what Main Street’s about?”
“What is a classic?” “May I borrow two pins?”
“Please tell us the time when the assembly begins.”
"May I go to my locker" "I want Mendel's laws"
"My topic's inflation-the effect and the cause.'
“I talked with a teacher, that's why I am late.”
“Just where do I look for the copyright date?”
"Will you find me one a picture of an evergreen tree”?
“I need an example of a good simile”
"Must I pay for this book? The cause was our pup:
Before I could grab it he chewed it up"
“Can you find for me a favourite poem?”
“I'm reciting a speech about school and the home.”
"For the last book you gave me I'm grateful to you
I liked it so much I made Mum read it too.”
“I need Emily Post or some etiquette.”
“Do you know the difference between sit and set?”
“We're having a party and want some new games”
“Bill Cody's checked out, do you have Jesse James?”
“Shakespeare is my topic; do you have him in here?”
“Just where is that play called NO MORE FRONTIER?”
“Why can't we whisper'? We're talking our lessons-
the UNO, its charter and sessions.”
“Does chromium begin with a C or a K?”
“My assignment for Tuesday is on TVA”
“Who was that old king so renowned for his wealth?”
“Debaters are here and our topic is health.”
“I can't find Poticelli, though I hunt and I hunt”
“We're the programme committee and need a good stunt”
“A diagram please of the lungs of a frog.”
“Why can't I find verbs in the card catalogue?”
“Sorry to disturb, didn't mean to talk so loud.”
“Will you find me a picture of a cumulus cloud?”
Without lull or surcease-six hours endless stream
I cudgelled my brain—I tried hard not to scream.
When the hands on the clock said three thirty-one.
Pronto they departed. I was left all alone.
The books scattered round me were in vast disarray.
I began to restore them the Dewey Decimal way. -
In walked a teacher fatigued with much care;
Wearily she sighed as she dropped to a chair.
“It's so peaceful in here, quiet, orderly too-
But how do you stand it with nothing to do?”
