As Ryan Broderick of Buzzfeed puts it: “Oh My God, There’s A Cat In Russia That Wears A Bow Tie And Works As A Librarian. The world is a beautiful place.”
Thanks, Kathleen Kirk (and others, but Kathleen was first).
Isaac Clarke memoir
page 191
In September of 2013, we received an amazing gift from Tom Courtney: a 200-page leather-bound handwritten memoir, dated 1892, by Isaac Clarke, a Union soldier who witnessed the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864.
Along with the manuscript, we received a 60-page typed “reconstruction” of the memoir, available in full here. See pages 40-43 of the reconstruction (179-195 of the original) for Clarke’s memories of Sand Creek.
Please note: the reconstruction corrects spelling and syntax and frequently paraphrases Clarke’s words, sometimes changing the meaning or emphasis. For example, on page 191 of the original (pictured above), Clarke writes:
“…I do think it was the most cowardly act I ever saw and this was what is recorded in history as the grate sand creek Battle and it was a grate battle but all one sided for the indens were all kild an to tell the truth they wear a band of friendley indens and they were all masacread by the hundred day men.”
The reconstruction for this passage reads:
“…It was the most dastardly, cowardly act I ever saw, and this was what is recorded in history as the Great Sand Creek Battle. The truth of the matter was that it was a band of friendly Indians massacred by a regiment of white savages, the hundred day men.”
If possible, therefore, researchers should visit CC Special Collections and consult the original rather than depend solely upon the reconstruction.
In honor of National Library Card Sign-Up Month (also known as September), Ann Leonard of the Pinal County Library District in Arizona has created this handy Pinterest board of Penguin/Pelican style book covers advertising library services. More information here. Thanks, BoingBoing!
“Caramel Kitten” twerks at a bookdrop and inside a library. (She twerks at a lot of other everyday places, too.). A little bit NSFW, depending where you W. Her “shh” at 0:21 made me laugh. Thanks, BoingBoing!
Addendum, October 10, 2013: More library twerking, this time at the Brooklyn Public Library. Thanks, Brooklyn Blowback!