Midlife Marathon Musings

The Pittsburgh Marathon, which seemed so far off when I registered for it, is only five days away now. Since I’m not a runner (yet), I signed up to walk the half-marathon, which seemed like a reasonable goal for a healthy newbie pushing 40. After months of training, I’m pretty confident that I will finish, and I can’t wait to earn my participation medal. But what I’m really excited about is that I’ll be crossing the finish line with a friend. Because for me, nothing beats having a wacky idea like having a wacky idea, sharing it, and hearing someone else say, “Hey, I want to do that too!”

Popular internet meme, current example spotted here

Life itself, of course, is also a marathon, but with fewer rest stops and not a single musical group out there to cheer you on. Some people travel alone, others in packs. The course can be steep and uneven, but it can also be breathtaking, and you can go as fast or as slowly as you want. Even if you never get up off the couch–a move experts don’t recommend—you’re in the race. Might as well make it a team effort, right?

And then there’s Midlife , that weird and wonderful time where you start getting serious about your physical health and your inner landscape. You re-examine your friendships. You worry about being a good role model to the kids in your life. The literal and metaphorical race becomes less of a sprint, more of an endurance challenge, as the milestones and checkpoints fly by. If you’re lucky, you have wise mentors ahead of you, shouting back encouragement, and whippersnappers behind you to nip at your heels and keep you sharp. But mostly, you’re looking for people moving at the same pace you are, to help you make sense of the whole experience…and to share cultural references with, of course. Not to mention, to keep you from taking it all too seriously.

Back in the world of the literal, I’m ready to wake up at a ridiculous hour Sunday morning so we can get one of the good parking spaces downtown. My shoes are broken in. I’ve studied the course map. I know where the water stations are. And we’ve walked our regular training route into the ground, building up both speed and endurance over time. Whether you’ll be walking with us, running ahead of us, or wishing us well from the couch, I hope your own race is a good one. For my part, I promise not to litter on the course, and to appreciate every step of the way. Any other advice for the journey you may have is welcomed with an open heart and a grateful spirit.

–Leigh Anne

who seems to have inhaled a philosophical streak along with that birthday cake

All Day, And All of the Night: Read to the People

What do Urban Mommies, a famous Froggy, and a local mystery maven have in common?  They’ll all be making an appearance at Read to the People, the 24-hour read-a-thon that begins today at noon.  That’s right:  144 volunteer readers, including many local celebrities, signed up for a collective 1,440 minutes of reading out loud to raise awareness of the Our Library, Our Future voter initiative.   That’s 24 hours of library love.  Makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

I’m biased, of course.  But, quite frankly, even if I didn’t work here, I’d still visit every day.  For starters,  you’d better believe I’d be getting my money’s worth from the library.  The amount of money I save on books alone is so embarrassingly high I’m surprised it’s not illegal:  $850 per every fifty books checked out on my card.  That makes the cost of a Donor Plus membership look, by comparison, decidedly affordable.  Add in the value of free internet access, free magazines and research journals, free cultural/educational programming, and all the other free perks that come with library membership? I’d be a fool not to spend my time here (especially if I were actually searching for a new job).

It’s the intangibles that matter most to me, though, namely my emotional attachment to the library as a palace of letters and light.  Illusory though it may be, it comforts me to think that, in our frazzled, consumption-driven world, there is still one place where any citizen may go and be treated with courtesy and respect.  One haven where, if they’re willing to work and learn, people can teach themselves anything they care to know.  A sanctuary that values both quiet spaces and noisy, cheerful, collaborative ones.  A place for children to dream and explore, and for adults to remember how to dream and explore.  A safe space to navigate the sometimes muddy waters of being a teen (and, of course, to have fun while doing so).  A place where, no matter how many times you’ve failed, you can always start over.

As lovely as all that sounds, I know that libraries can’t sustain themselves on dreams and illusions.  They need you:  your time, your ear, your voice, your donations, your vote.  That’s why I’m part of the volunteer crew staying up all night for Read to the People:  I love the library so much, I’m not content to be with it in the daytime. I’m going to stay up all night to support it, and so are a lot of your friends and neighbors.  Won’t you join us?

In conjunction with the brouhaha, Eleventh Stack will update frequently this weekend with photos and short posts about read-aloud festivities.  You can also get read-aloud tidbits on Facebook and Twitter, and participate virtually by retweeting and sharing links and photos in your social networks.  Spread the word, and we hope to see you soon, either outside or online!

—Leigh Anne

serendipitously celebrating nine years of library employment today

Love, Forgiveness, and Wisdom

Looking for a great way to welcome 2009? Beginning in January, 2009, the Carnegie Library-Main will begin a five-part humanities book discussion entitled Love, Forgiveness, and Wisdom (LFW). The series will be held on Thursdays this winter, from 6:00-8:00 pm in the Quiet Reading Room at the Main branch.

Our branch was one of 50 public libraries to receive a $2,500 competitive grant from the American Library Association and the Fetzer Institute as part of their “Let’s Talk About It” series. Through the reading and discussion of five works of classic and contemporary fiction, and facilitated by our program scholar, Dr. Heather McNaugher of Chatham University, LFW will investigate how literature can increase our understanding of ourselves and one another. Space in this program is limited, so register early at the Carnegie Library website.

The five works in the series were chosen by Dr. Betty Sue Flowers, Director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, who has written a wonderful essay describing each selection and how each one relates to our topics. The five books we’ll be reading and discussing (and the dates) are:

• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen — January 8
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss – January 22
• The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare – February 5
• The Essential Rumi (poetry) – February 19
• Atonement by Ian McEwan – March 5

We have some special events scheduled, including a presentation of the forgiveness scene from The Winter’s Tale by drama students from Carnegie Mellon University.

If you’d like more information, please email me at newandfeatured@carnegielibrary.org.

–Jane