Thank you so much to Matt and Hannah McDonald – and to Westchester’s ver own slam master, Zork – for another great day of Slam! Poetry in the Peekskill Schools and at the Field Library! And of course thanks to all those who attended, and especially those who participated in the open mike.
Some of you may know one of our readers, Judy Kaplan, as the previous Peekskill High School Librarian.
Pictures and the text of Judy Kaplan’s poem after the jump!
OBSOLETE OR NOT?
By Judy Kaplan
I’m told my choices are obsolete
My pursuits not needed anymore
Where my interests have followed my heart
Some claim I should now shut the door
First there was my long career
A research specialist known as librarian
Helping others find information needed
Is considered by some antiquarian
Who needs help when there’s Google?
Just type it in and it’s there!
But mostly what you get from Google
Is what you can buy — and where
Truth is research searches from Google
Often only touch the surface
Tough questions take specialized searching
And for serious minds Google won’t suffice
A librarian knows the specialized databases
And complex searching strategies
And can make individualized recommendations
On reference books and fun-filled reads
Can you replace a librarian with Google
I can tell you, NO!
If librarians become obsolete
Serious research would also go – straight out the window!
Then I chose a second career
As a handwriting analyst
Seeing so much about people by how they write
Is a just as exciting kind of information specialist
But now some people are saying
Handwriting is obsolete
There’s no reason to pick up a pen
When you can just text and tweet
But all the science shows
Writing by hand creates pathways in the brain
That set up a brain network for learning
And build our personal brain-frame
Is it obsolete to have a better functioning brain
Where pathways quickly pull together facts?
Or should handwriting be given up
And get the fateful ax?
I believe there’s room for both
Why give up building a better brain?
When writing by hand does just that
Giving it up would be insane
Besides, think of your personal signature
It’s yours and yours alone
It’s a legal representation of you
It’s a piece of yourself that’s truly your own
So getting back to obsolete
Do we give up tough research?
And if we only text and tweet
Do we want our brain left in a lurch?
No, I believe my choices are not obsolete
They’re needed more than ever
I see people constantly getting help from librarians
And I see people buying pens – even fancy ones – everywhere
So who are these obsolete claimers?
I guess they’re those who can’t see the full view
If they could they’d know that technology
Doesn’t replace the great things that people can personally do
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