News Library News Online
Vol. 23, No.1/Fall 2000

Table of Contents
Regular Features

New This Month

News Library News
SLA News Division Home

 

Poetry Read-In at USA TODAY
By Bruce Rosenstein

 

When the executive editor of the newspaper is the kickoff reader of your first library poetry event, you pretty much know it is going to be a hit.

Last April the USA TODAY library staged a one hour poetry 'read-in' to celebrate National Poetry Week. It's hard to imagine it going much better than it did, but several months of planning went into making it a success. The work was done not only by library staff but also with the help of a 'brainstorming team' of editors and reporters that met periodically in the library and exchanged e-mails.

Bruce Rosenstein coordinated the planning and MC'd the event, which was held in the 17th floor auditorium of the USA TODAY building, while librarians Jean Simpson and Ruth Fogle kept things running smoothly during the hour.

How crucial is it to get library patrons involved in a promotion of this type? According to USA TODAY Library Director Barbara Maxwell, "I think this is very important. We must expand beyond ourselves when possible. This was one of the best events the library has ever sponsored in all the years we have been doing this."

Executive Editor Bob Dubill, who has a booming, dramatic speaking style, gave a short tribute to the library and also remembered newspaper employees who had lost loved ones in the previous year. Looking back on the event, Dubill recently said: "This was truly a memorable and meaningful hour for everybody who participated. I came away humbled and inspired."

Having his blessing and involvement was a big plus for the library, according to Maxwell: "This was tremendous support for us and this activity. I think it helped to validate the importance of the event and the importance of the library as a department."

The talent consisted of USA TODAY and Gannett corporate employees, along with two of Washington's most talented poets: Patricia Gray, of the Library of Congress, and Richard Peabody, the founding editor of Gargoyle magazine.

The in-house talent was a particular revelation. Most read their own poems and they all did a great job. A couple of months before the event, the library put out a 'call to poets' with flyers in elevators and items on the company intranet. Prospective readers were told they could read their own or a 'favorite poem.' Most responded to the call by e-mail, and one person even sent her reply in poetic form.

Besides Dubill, the eleven poets came from a diverse spectrum of in-house departments, including editors and reporters from the Sports, Money and Life sections, as well as a librarian, a researcher from USA Weekend and one corporate staffer. Each was asked to limit their reading to 3-5 minutes, so everyone could have a turn and Gray and Peabody could be given 15 minutes each.

You never know who is going to turn out to be a poet: Money reporter Bruce Horovitz had a chapbook of his poetry published years ago, and was even featured on an NPR live poetry reading series.

The poetry from each reader was of professional quality, and expertly read. The themes were familiar: love, death, family, etc., but all were delivered in a fresh and poignant manner.

Maxwell said "I think it meant a lot to the library staff who attended and participated, from feedback I received. I also think it meant a lot to the people who read and attended in general. It seemed to hit a chord on a personal level with a lot of people. I found the experience deeply moving, and think many others did as well from their feedback."

One of the participants sent this message afterwards: "That was a terrific program. I came away inspired. And I heard rave reviews from others. The out-of-building guests were extraordinary. Thanks for a great hour."

There was even a giveaway for the readers and listeners: copies of the paperback "Songs for The Open Road: Poems of Travel & Adventure," donated by Andrew Carroll of The American Poetry & Literacy Project.

The USA TODAY library is well known within the company for our regular series of promotional events throughout the year. Book giveaways are always popular, and library promotions coordinator Ruth Fogle said "The library holds promotions to celebrate most major holidays, as well as National Library Week, International Special Librarians' Day and Banned Books Week. My favorite by far was the poetry event. It was something that we had not done previously and it got patrons involved in a personal way. It gave them an opportunity to share their talents with peers. The poetry event got the participants excited and so were we. Generating promotional fliers for the event pushed my creativity to a new level."

For those considering similar events at their own libraries, Maxwell offered these suggestions on the overall value promotions bring to the library, as well as critical success factors in planning and execution: "The value is to get the word out about the department. To get folks to think about the library. Also, to meet members of the company. To share a common experience. One of my strategic initiatives is to have the employees of the company take ownership of the library as 'theirs' and for the library to help develop a sense of community within the company."

Poetry is a universal language. Perhaps it can work for you as well as it worked for us.


Bruce Rosenstein is a librarian at USA Today. You can contact him at brosenstein@usatoday.com.


News Library News
SLA News Division Home

The page was reformatted on 4/8/03. The content, including URLs and contact information, on this page has not been updated to preserve the historical record.

Comments about News Library News should go to the editor.
Comments about the Web site should go to the Webmaster: newsdivisionweb@yahoo.com