A Word From Jay Clark '22
It is a Thursday afternoon, and I am half asleep in my favorite library armchair, listening to Desert Solitaire on audiobook. As the narrator describes drifting down a river on a sun-filled raft, deep in a canyon, I am drifting in my own sun-filled armchair, deep in the cushions. I spend hours upon hours in this chair with my feet up on a stool, reading, writing, and, most importantly, napping. If I’m not in class or at work, I’m probably in this chair: the one closest to the door to the stacks in the reading room, looking out toward the ocean and Bar Island. One morning, when I had my butt in the chair and my nose in a book, Jane came up to me and said, “I’m gonna put your name on that chair.” If one armchair mysteriously disappears from the reading room come June, you’ll have a pretty good idea of where it went.
Illustration by Mazie Smallidge
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Ashley Bryan ( 1923-2022)
Ashley Byan, celebrated children's author, artist and friend of COA, passed away on February 4th at age 98. He was a man of hope and joy who was rooted in reality. He lived many years on Islesford where he founded the Ashley Bryan Center. As noted in this Washington Post obituary, “Mr. Bryan helped fill a void in the historically White realm of American children’s literature, crafting works that treated Black characters with dignity rather than disdain.” We are lucky for the light he has brought to our world. You can find his puppets on display in CHE (the Center for Human Ecology), one of his paintings above the fireplace in Deering, and many of his children’s books in our library.
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ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE
A CELEBRATION OF BLACK ART AND THOUGHT
In honor of Black History month, Desi Williams '23 has assembled a display of books, music and films by black artists and thinkers. From Zora Neal Hurston to Charles Mingus to Marcus Garvey, this display is a deep dive into the myriad ways America has been shaped by these amazing individuals. Stop in and take a look!
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 Celebrating Student Work
Sophia Eliana Levy ’23 is a COA student and musician from Monterey, California. She writes music "in celebration of life's cyclical journey of birth and rebirth, and fosters the craft of storytelling through song, movement, and multimedia art." Her most recent song is “What It Means to Be a Woman." To learn more about Sophia and hear more of her songs, visit here.
For those with an interest in music, the library has books about music and musicians, as well as songbooks, records and CDs.
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Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker
What does it mean to find security in relationships? Alice Walker writes a tense novel about several characters navigating the black experience in the US and the Americas and how the reality of their oppression seeps into the bonds of love and friendship. Alice Walker brews a novel heavy with deceit and infidelity, taking the black feminine perspective. She explores the expectations of black women and how those expectations are rarely realized.
Call Number: PS 3573 .A425 T46 1989
- Red Delelegne
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The Call of the Wild by Jack London
If you’re looking for a satisfying ending and an easy-to-follow storyline, check out The Call of the Wild. As a survival and adventure story of a dog journeying across the North, you learn of the power of wilderness and the importance of the individual. While not entirely realistic, it is a rewarding read!
Call Number: IR JUV PZ 10.3 .L8533 Cal 1994
- Joanna Pittari |
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From The Archives: Kaebler Hall Under Construction
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Find images of the library when it first opened in this 1989 COA newsletter, on page 5!
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