BKPL

I *love* the Brooklyn Public Library! When I first came to NYC in 1993, I used to spend hours at the branch near my stepmother’s house in Canarsie–I needed to make myself scarce to avoid all the drama at home, and I found a sanctuary there. The Central Branch of the BKPL was one of the first things I remember seeing as my Dad drove me home from the bus station that summer–it was a dull, gray day, but with its shiny gold icons, the library seemed magical, full of promise. And now that promise has been fulfilled! I go to that branch nearly every week–it’s a short walk away, and always a good excuse to cut through the nearby botanic garden. That’s what I did this morning as I prepared to lead my first reading/writing workshop for BIRD. With all these launch parties, I still hadn’t yet READ the book to kids, and so today was my first opportunity to see how children engage with BIRD. It was a really diverse group of 6th and 7th graders, and they were outstanding–very keen to participate, eager to read passages of the story, to interpret the illustrations, to share their poetry. We started by considering the sankofa symbol, and then moved on to read the story collectively. They notice so many details in the illustrations–Shadra’s a genius! After the story was over, we did some word association exercises, and then used our words to write some haiku about birds…some intrepid poets got up before the class to read, and we all snapped our approval…really, really nice kids. We wrapped up by signing books, and bookmarks, and sankofa handouts. And then I went and got some soup, came home, and *crashed*–I always know when it’s the end of the semester b/c my immune system nosedives. I think I might have strep throat, and I hear the sofa calling my name, but here’s to all the children out there (and all those boys!) who raise their hands and claim their voices without fear…and here’s to Angeli Rasbury and Deloris McCullough who have made the BKPL a sanctuary for Brooklyn’s kids!

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