Overdue Ode to the Libarary, Part I

Looking back at the resolutions I set for myself at the beginning of 2012, I actually accomplished a lot of them. Shocking.

The one that I have to say I had the most fun with was the goal to visit the library as often as possible. And let's just say I didn't confine my visits to my local branch, the gorgeous Kathleen Clay Edwards Library.
I made it a point to go to the nirvana of libraries (New York Public Library, of course), and to my very first presidential library.
So I'm going to give you a three-part Ode to the Library. Because even my "best friend" and idol The Bloggess has declared 2013 the Year of the Library – but for slightly different reasons than mine.
Here in part one of my Ode, we'll travel to New York and visit Library Row. On that trip last December, I resided at the Library Hotel, one of the coolest places I've ever stayed. The hotel is full of books and reading nooks, making it the perfect escape.
New goal: When I'm rich and famous, I am going to live in the Library Hotel, like Coco Chanel in the Ritz.
A clever twist in the hotel's theme is that the rooms are numbered according to the Dewey Decimal System, and each room contains the books that would correspond to that DDS number in an actual library. For example, I had room 700.004, which of course would be Photography. Therefore, my room had shelves and shelves of fabulous books about photography.
The hotel's location couldn't be better – it's right on Library Row, about a half-block from the main branch of the New York Public Library, a building stuffed so full of words that it made my head spin. I even had that little panic attack I always have in great bookstores and libraries – the one where I realize it will be impossible to read everything around me, but I have a compulsion to frantically give it a go.
Anyway, on the way out I gave Fortitude the lion a little pat, and avoided Patience, the other lion on the front steps of the NYPL. Well you had to know that one wouldn't be my favorite, right?
Enjoy the photos of my trip. In the next installment, I'll take you along to Little Rock, Ark.

Fortitude watches over Madison Avenue.

 

The stunning carved ceiling in one of the porticoes of the NYPL.

The lobby of the NYPL, complete with Lego models of the lions, Patience and Fortitude.

One of the NYPL Reading Rooms.

Now that's a catalog!

The Library Hotel, a.k.a. my retirement home.

The book-filled lobby of the Library Hotel

My Dewey Decimal numbered room.

Book shelves in my room.

Too true.

One of the many sidewalk markers on Library Row, featuring quotes from books and authors.

Auld Lang Syne

New York Public Library - a.k.a. Heaven on Earth

Well, we survived that whole "Mayan thing" and made it to the end of another modern calendar.
It's the time of year to look back - and think forward. As I'm sure you can tell, it's been a busy year for me. And now I have a resolution to get back into the writing saddle.
Looking over the year gone by, I note that at the beginning of 2012 I had resolved to read all of Charles Dickens' books in honor of the 200th anniversary of his birth. I made it through most of them in one big bound collection.
Some of them were quite a slog, and I fully admit to stopping after a chapter or two on those. But I did reacquaint myself with my favorites like A Tale of Two Cities and Bleak House. I think my top pick is still Oliver Twist.
A few weeks ago, while in New York, I was thrilled to see an exhibit about Charles Dickens' characters at the New York Public Library. It included several of the real-life people that inspired Dickens, as well as many of his personal effects and clothing (including the fabulous pen-and-inkwell set that he used to write many novels). A great way to learn more about an inventive writer and to renew my friendships with characters like Pip, Esther Summerson, Bill Sikes, and Sydney Carton.
So here's to friends, old and new. And here's to more reading and writing in the New Year.

Dickens' inkwell and pen - sure to inspire more blog posts in 2013

The banner for the Charles Dickens exhibit