HomeMy WebLinkAboutfriends_newsletterNewsletter Fall 2018Check It Out!
Sewing Things Up!
by Melody Sky Eisler, Library Director
I hope that in this year to come,
you make mistakes. Because if you
are making mistakes, then you are
making new things, trying new
things, learning, living, pushing
yourself, changing yourself, changing
your world. You’re doing things
you’ve never done before, and
more importantly, you’re doing
something. —Neil Gaiman
Ever wanted to learn how to
do something new but were
not sure where to start? Or the
idea of it seemed overwhelming,
or you were afraid of making
mistakes and messing things up?
I have felt this way for years
about learning to sew. My father’s
side of the family is Mennonite,
and I have fond memories of
tracing the patterns of hand
stitches on my parents’ wedding
quilt when I was little. The women
in the family had a literal sewing
circle and made wedding quilts for
their relatives. The quilts were some of the only examples
of color they had in their monochromatic homes. To
my childhood mind, they were akin to Dorothy’s going
from black-and-white Kansas to full-technicolor Oz.
This year I became a first-time aunt, and this materteral
moment inspired me to learn how to sew. I wanted my new
niece to have a baby quilt handmade by me. The library has
been checking out sewing machines for the last couple of
years as part of our collection, Unusual Items to Borrow,
made possible in part by the Friends (ptpubliclibrary
.org/UsingTheLibrary/equipment/equipment.html). The
collection runs the gamut from
birding adventure backpacks
and bear vaults to American Girl
dolls and cake pans, to robots
and a telescope, and more.
I checked out a sewing
machine, took the time to read
the instructions, checked out a
couple of basic quilting books,
watched a few YouTube videos,
and signed up for learn-to-sew
classes at a local fabric store.
My next step was to attend the
library’s twice-monthly Fiber Arts
Night. This program connects
fiber artists to work on projects
together and share tips and tricks.
My quilting dream would
not have been as doable
without the library. I didn’t
have a sewing machine and felt
overwhelmed at the prospect of
learning to sew and quilt. Being
able to check out the machine
and books made learning that much more accessible.
Sharing the generosity of spirit at Fiber Arts nights
has given me a community of support for those times
when I’m realizing how important it is to keep “your
sewing machine close and your seam ripper closer.”
I hope the joy and excitement I felt during my
own learning journey is how our library patrons
feel when trying or learning something new that
they found at the library. I love that we inspire our
community to always learn and create. &
Melody’s “Spin Art” quilt block and the library’s
sewing machine.
Fiber Arts Night: 6:30–8:30 pm, first and third Tuesdays of the month, Port Townsend Public Library. Come enjoy an evening of
handiwork with other fiber artists. All fiber arts projects are welcome; please bring your own supplies.
Melody Sky Eisler
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Long before each Friends of the Port
Townsend Library book sale in March,
June and October, a veritable hive of workers
springs into action behind the scenes, where
all understand their purpose and busily get to
the job at hand. Industrious volunteers sort
donated books every week year-round, and
they know that the success of the Friends’ sales
depends significantly on their unseen efforts.
Community members who regularly attend
the sales likely have no idea of the time and
care given to the cause before they set foot
in the Port Townsend
Community Center where
the book sales are staged.
Neither would they guess
that unsold volumes are
whisked away afterward
so that books can be given
a second, third, or fourth
life in new readers’ hands.
Every sale starts from
scratch. New batches of
books are constantly being
donated to the Friends,
and no leftovers are saved
for the next sale. [You may
donate books in the bin
located near the library
entrance. See the story in
Check It Out’s summer
2018 issue and the poster
inside the entryway.]
Volunteers’ desire to
help starts, naturally,
with a love of books and
reading. “Books have
gotten me through life,”
said volunteer Wayne
Shaver. He shows up at regular book-sorting
sessions, at which a team of knowledgeable
bookies pore through as many as 20–30
boxes of donated books, which are dropped
off each week at the sorting site by still more
volunteers who haul them on a regular basis.
Deb Vanderbilt and Linda Martin co-
coordinate the weekly sorting gatherings.
Vanderbilt said that with their jovial crew,
sometimes a party atmosphere prevails. But
there’s no mistaking how these volunteers
get to business sorting books into a
myriad of categories. Some have library
backgrounds. Some are specialists in certain
genres, such as cookbooks or poetry. Some
are generalists who have broad-ranging
interests and expertise. All are readers.
Vanderbilt explained that there is no way
incoming books could be categorized on
the morning of each sale. It would simply
take too long. “We try to keep ahead of it,”
Vanderbilt said. Separation into genres makes
for sales where buyers can easily browse and
locate the type of volume they might want.
Friends secretary Paula Zimmerman said
it’s fun and interesting to see what surfaces at
the weekly sorting. “It’s like finding treasure!”
Sorters might discover books that aren’t
politically or culturally relevant anymore. Or
they could, and do, run across topics ranging,
for example, from World War II to Rembrandt,
higher mathematics, Irish travel, and sex.
“It’s fascinating to see what the community is
reading,” added volunteer Alexandra Feit.
Occasionally, the workers find
something extraordinary, such as a
recent collection of first-edition poetry
chapbooks, which was identified and sold
separately to benefit the Friends’ library
program budget. Other specialty books are
sometimes nabbed for resale in this way.
Volunteer Pat Copland believes that a
particular benefit of the book sales is the
affordability of children’s books. The sales are a
good source for building family libraries, since
children should have access to many books, she
said. She likes getting children’s literature into
the community: “It makes my heart happy.”
Generally, books that are too badly damaged
or are highlighted, dirty, or mildewed are not
accepted for the sales. Sorters weed these out.
Books that likely won’t sell for whatever reason
are donated to Goodwill if they’re still in fair
condition; the worst are recycled or tossed.
If books reach the book sale tables at the
Community Center but remain unsold, they
are usually drafted into service once again. For
the last several years, Lisa Ferenz has taken on
the task of what to do with these remaining
Behind the Book Sale Scene, It’s Still the Volunteers
by lynn nowak
Friends vice president Deb Vanderbilt (left)
and Linda Martin are co-coordinators of book
sorting and categorizing. They are in charge
of making sure a steady supply of good-
quality books is ready for every sale.
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Friends secretary Paula
Zimmerman (above left),
Melanie Reynolds, and
Wayne Shaver (at right)
decide whether books are
suitable for the Friends’
book sales and sort them by
genre. A team of volunteers
pores through scores of
books every week.
books. As owner of the Shop, a thrift store in
Port Hadlock, she buys reduced-price books
for her store at the “bag sale” offered toward
the end of every book sale. But since hundreds
of volumes may remain, she arranges for their
collection by a company called Discover Books.
Discover Books’ motto is, “Let the stories
live on,” which it accomplishes by resale,
redistribution, and recycling. It aims to put
used books into the hands of people who want
and need them most, rather than send them to
landfills or let them languish unread. Through
this program, Ferenz said, “these books get
another chance to make a positive difference.”
“Literacy is so important to opening
minds,” Vanderbilt said. “It’s one of the most
important things we can do for people.”
And why volunteer? Book sorter Richard
Inman said simply, “I love the library.” &
Don’t miss this last sale of 2018!
9 am to 3 pm
Open to Friends’ members at 8 am
Port Townsend Community Center
Corner of Lawrence & Tyler
BOOK SALE
Saturday ª October 20
Lynn Nowak is a Port Townsend–based writer,
a former copyeditor at the Port Townsend &
Jefferson County Leader, and for 26 years the
unofficial secretary of her book group.
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What Friends Are Reading
Book reviews on these pages have typically been written by Friends board
members, whose names and roles appear on the back page. This fall, we
introduce what we hope will be the first of many reviews contributed by a
non–board member. We hope yours will be next. Please e-mail the editor
at 4ellenwchu@gmail.com. Thank you!
t In Praise of “Mindless” Reading
My response to the present state of the world
has been to escape. Escape into uplifting films,
into “mindless” bedtime reading. Not really
mindless, though, and always well written.
Over the past year or so, I finally finished
The Eternal Frontier by Tim Flannery
(2001), a fascinating tale of North American
ecological history, including of its peoples,
and launched into Charles C. Mann’s 1491
(2005), an introduction to the vast and
powerful civilizations of South America before
Europeans arrived. But as daily news got
worse, and I got more tired, I put down 1491
and devoured some eight of John Le Carré’s
Cold War–era spy novels, as well as the 1982
BBC miniseries Smiley’s People on DVD,
starring the late and truly great Alec Guinness.
But Le Carré’s masterful works can also feel
rather too close to home in these odd times.
Less gut wrenching are books by Edgar
Award–winning writer Laurie King (who wrote
the Mary Russell mysteries featuring Sherlock
Holmes, starting with The Beekeeper’s
Apprentice, 1994, and the stand-alone novel
Folly, 2001, about a woman woodworker
seeking redemption in the San Juan Islands).
With richly realized suspense and intelligent
writing, King’s books rarely end in tragedy,
so you can inhabit the places and people she
details without fear of a bad end. Touchstone
(2007) and The Bones of Paris (2013) vividly
evoke Cornwall and the 1920s arts and literary
streets of Montparnasse, respectively. Her
latest stand-alone novel, Lockdown (2017),
tells the story of a school shooting, in which
another too-close-to-real series of events
brings out more courage than agony.
I also read three books by Anne Hillerman,
daughter of renowned mystery writer Tony
Hillerman, who has kept alive Navajo Police
Department characters—and the magnificent
geography of the Navajo Nation—in her
continuing Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito
series. I’ve always liked Tony’s books because
they let me glimpse contemporary Navajo
life, and Anne’s books do the same.
Not mindless at all, and full of soul, are
two novels by my all-time favorite novelist,
Barbara Kingsolver: The Lacuna (2009) and
Flight Behavior (2012). The first is fictional
history, featuring the artists Frida Kahlo and
Diego Rivera and anti-Stalin revolutionary
Lev Trotsky. The second is natural history, a
scientifically accurate and deeply human story
centered on a fictitious Appalachian apparition
of a wintering colony of monarch butterflies.
Finally, just in time for the third PBS season
of The Durrells in Corfu this fall, I binge-read
(or reread) my favorites among Gerald Durrell’s
many books about his passion for animals: My
Family and Other Animals (1956), which I
bought and first read while on a Greek island
myself in 1972; A Zoo in My Luggage (1960),
the story of a trip to the Cameroons, where
Durrell collected the animals that became the
core of his own private zoo on the English
isle of Jersey; The Whispering Land (1961),
in which he travels to Argentina for South
American species for his zoo; Menagerie
Manor (1964), which tells how he finally sets
up his Jersey zoo; and Fauna and Family
(1978), the last volume of his Corfu trilogy on
which the television show is based (volume 2
is Birds, Beasts, and Relatives, 1969).
If you also find yourself wishing to escape
this winter (and can’t afford Hawaii), try
one of these authors or titles. You’ll not be
disappointed. —Ellen W. Chu
There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book
and a tired man [or woman] who wants a book to read. —G. K. Chesterton
5
This debut novel by Tom Miller might be
categorized as historical fantasy or science
fiction, but I was so convinced of Miller’s
underlyng premise of human flight that I read
it as historical science fact. Robert Weekes
is a practitioner of empirical philosophy,
an arcane and female-dominated branch of
science that can summon the winds, heal the
injured, and take humans into the air without
wings or machines. Set in a slightly altered
America of the early twentieth century, the
Great War raging in Europe, this is the story
of an individual struggling against gender
stereotypes, determined to prove his talents
to his fellow (mostly female) students at
Radcliffe College, and attain his dream of
joining the elite Sigilry Corp Rescue and
Evacuation Department. Robert is fighting
more than prejudice, however, as there are
those who are bent on ensuring that every
last philosopher is wiped out. This book is
so imaginative, yet it feels entirely authentic,
a fantastical journey that will have you
gazing skyward and thinking, “I wonder
if I could . . .” If history didn’t actually
happen this way, it certainly should have.
—Kristine Kaufman, a new Friends member,
was a bookseller for nearly forty years before
moving to Port Townsend with her husband
and entirely too many books
t The Philosopher’s Flight
Tom Miller (2018)
When I saw that Exit West bore a sticker
saying, “10 Best Books, the New York Times Book Review, 2017,” I had high expectations
for this selection for my book group. I read
it in three days, not because it is a real page-
turner but because it is so well written and
brings up so many topics that I know the
group will dive into: migration, war, insecurity,
relationships, and the nature of “home.”
Although Exit West is not a dystopian novel
per se, it does deal with a world where cities are
made unlivable by national wars, local violence
with nativists killing migrants, and general
fear for one’s safety. This world is difficult
to escape—unless one can find a darkened
doorway that, when walked through, opens
into another place, far from home yet safer.
In spite of the widespread violence, choosing
to leave was not easy for the two main young
characters, Saeed and Nadia. “It might seem
odd that in cities teetering at the edge of the
abyss young people still go to class—in this
case an evening class on corporate identity
and product branding—but that is the way
of things, with cities as with life, for one
moment we are pottering about our errands
as usual and the next we are dying, and
our eternally impending ending does not
put a stop to our transient beginnings and
middles until the instant when it does.”
The relationship between Saeed and Nadia
develops as they go through several magical
doorways to find a place they might call
home. As they cross through one doorway
after another, I pondered where our book
group might go on the topic of migration.
In a chapter near the end of the book, we
read, “We are all migrants through time.”
The topics Hamid raises are timely. “It was
as if Hamid knew what was going to happen
to America and the world,” says the New York
Times Book Review, “and gave us a road map to
our future. . . . At once terrifying and . . . oddly
hopeful.” —Ellen Dustman
t Exit West
Mohsin Hamid (2017)
Ranie Keithahnranie@olympus.net
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t Mastering the Art of
Soviet Cooking
Anya von Bremzen (2013)
t The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov (50th-anniversary
edition, 2016)
In 1928, Mikhail Bulgakov started writing
what would later be called one of the greatest
Russian novels of all time. After burning
the first manuscript, he started over in 1930
and continued writing and revising until
his death in 1940. A censored serial version
of The Master and Margarita was released
in 1966, while the full version circulated
secretly, but it was not until 1967 that the
manuscript was published as a book.
The novel alternates between two seemingly
unrelated stories that eventually intersect.
In the first story, Satan and his entourage
(including an oversized black cat) wreak
havoc in 1930s Moscow. The second story
features the Master, a frustrated author of an
unpublished novel about Pontius Pilate and
Jesus. The Master is confined to a mental
hospital, while his girlfriend, Margarita,
seeks to free him with the help of the devil.
No plot summary of The Master and
Margarita could adequately convey the power
of the composition. You can fully enjoy it on
first reading, but similar to Russian nested
dolls, many levels wait to be discovered,
with symbolism and references to politics,
freemasonry, literature (particularly Goethe’s
Faust), and music—all underlying the themes
of courage and cowardice, muddled good
and evil, and strength of the human spirit.
I was so moved by this book that I read
a second translation, listened to a third as
an audio book, and ordered the eight-hour
Russian TV miniseries with English subtitles.
Still, I was surprised to discover that a novel
that only became available in the 1960s has
inspired plays, ballets, artwork, and over 200
musical works, from operas and symphonies
to the Rolling Stones’ song “Sympathy for the
Devil” and Patti Smith’s album Banga. —CH
This is not a cookbook, which is probably
just as well, since we’re talking about Soviet
cooking here. Yet the story does revolve
around food and cooking and their political
and social importance—and especially around
the emotional longing for food in a time of
scarcity. In this memoir of growing up in the
Soviet Union and emigrating to the United
States, food is the long thread that weaves
its way through children’s relationships at
school and around family gatherings and
interactions with neighbors and relatives. It is
also the eternal link to a distant homeland.
As a child, I could envision the Soviet Union
only in black-and-white images that resembled
the ones I had seen on television news. With
her first-hand perspective of growing up in the
Soviet Union, von Bremzen is able to breathe
life, color, and the aroma of cooking into those
images. You can almost taste the salat Olivier.
Reading this book made me wonder how
food is featured in Russian literature, which
led me to other books, including Mikhail
Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. I am
thankful to von Bremzen for the entertaining
full-sensory trip to the Soviet Union and for
the resulting journey into Russian literature.
—Christine Heycke
7
✂✂
We are delighted to welcome
the following Friends who have
joined since our June 2018
newsletter:
Welcome,
New Members!
Rebecca Christie
Jana Edmondson
Kristine Kaufman
Dan & Anne Kelly
Anneke van Krieken
Molly Mandel
Joebob Moore
Jeanie Murphy
John Porter
Linda Lee Tatro
Richard M Tucker &
Henry W Logan
Carl Youngmann
Thank You,
Thank You,
Business Sponsors
With so many outstanding organizations
in Port Townsend to sponsor, we feel special
when a local business chooses the Friends.
Please visit their websites, and send business
their way whenever you can. And thank them
for years of continuing support for our library!
Ranie Keithahn, ranie@olympus.net
Sound Storage, sound-storage.com/port-
townsend
Terrapin Architecture, Richard Berg,
terrapinarchitecture.com
Wallyworks Enterprises, Malcom Dorn,
wallyworks.net
Waterbirth Solutions,
waterbirthsolutions.com
Yoga Port Townsend, Heather Sky,
yogaporttownsend.com
Name _____________________________________________
Address _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Phone _____________________________________________
E-mail _____________________________________________
Friends of the Port Townsend Library is qualified for tax exemption under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and contributions are tax deductible to the
extent allowed by law.
Our membership year is June 1–May 31. Dues may be paid
at the library, or by credit card on the Friends’ section of the
library’s website (www.ptpubliclibrary.org/SupportYourLibrary
/FriendsoftheLibrary), or by mailing this form with your check
payable to Friends of the Port Townsend Library (FOPTL) to
Friends of the Port Townsend Library
1220 Lawrence St., Port Townsend, WA 98368
Donation amount
❏ $10 ❏ $25 ❏ $50
❏ $100 ❏ $200 ❏ $_____
❏ $100 Business Business members receive a
business-card-sized ad in all
current-year newsletters
❏ New member ❏ Renewing member
Newsletters are available online, at the
library and Food Co-op, and elsewhere
❏ Check here if you want paper
copies mailed to you
Would you like to volunteer?
Please indicate your area(s) of interest
❏ Book sales
❏ Help with book donations
❏ Publicity and outreach
❏ Occasional jobs
❏ I have an idea; call me!
NEW!
Are numbers and money your thing? If
so, we need you! E-mail Friends treasurer
Cindy at cjjohnson4033@gmail.com.
Help Wanted
The Rainy Season Is for Finding Friends
Who We Are
The port townsend public library was founded in 1898 by volun-
teers and, thanks to continuing community support, has remained an
active Carnegie Library since its present doors opened in 1913.
The Friends of the Port Townsend Library, established in 1978,
funds programs, services, and materials beyond what the city’s library
budget covers. Every year we support reading programs, events, and
activities for all ages; we also hold three book sales and publish three
newsletters. Newsletters are available in the library, around town, or at
ptpubliclibrary.org/SupportYourLibrary/FriendsoftheLibrary.
Our support comes primarily from memberships, donations,
and book sales. We invite anyone to become a member and attend
our monthly board meetings, which take place on the second
Wednesday of each month, 3:30 pm, at the Library Learning Center
(corner of Lawrence and Harrison). You may contact us by e-mailing
friendsofptlibrary@gmail.com.
Board Members
President Ellen Dustman
Secretary Paula Zimmerman
Vice President &
Book Donations Deb Vanderbilt
Treasurer Cindy Johnson
Membership Fran Post
Editing, Design,
& Newsletter Ellen W Chu
Book Sales Cheryl Bentley
Volunteers Jan Sprague
At Large Christine Heycke
Geralynn Rackowski
friends of the port townsend library
1220 lawrence street
port townsend, wa 98368
PLACE
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LAST BOOK SALE
of 2018
October 20
Uptown Community
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