December is full of holidays, but I'll bet you didn't know Dewey Decimal Day was one of them! Yes, December 10 is Dewey Decimal Day, the birthday of Melvil Dewey (1851-1931), the inventor of the Dewey Decimal system of library classification, the most widely used system in the world since 1876. Time to celebrate with this poem by Liz Steinglass from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations:
And you'll find these Take 5 activities for this poem in The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations too:
And for more poems about libraries, books, and reading, look for my list in The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists. Here's an excerpt:
Poems about Libraries, Books, and Reading
- Alarcón, Francisco X. 1999. “Books” from Angels Ride Bikes: And Other Fall Poems/ Los Angeles Andan en Bicicleta: Y Otros Poemas de Otoño. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press.
- Appelt, Kathi. 1997. “Javier” from Just People and Paper/Pen/Poem: A Young Writer’s Way to Begin. Spring, TX: Absey & Co.
- Bagert, Brod. 1999. “Library-Gold” from Rainbows, Head Lice and Pea-Green Tile; Poems in the Voice of the Classroom Teacher. Gainesville, FL: Maupin House.
- Dakos, Kalli. 2003. “When the Librarian Reads to Us” from Put Your Eyes Up Here: And Other School Poems. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Frost, Helen. 2003. “Do Not Leave Children Unattended” from Keesha’s House. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
- George, Kristine O’Connell. 2002. “School Librarian” from Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems. New York: Clarion Books.
- Giovanni, Nikki. 1971. “ten years old” from Spin a Soft Black Song. New York: Hill & Wang.
- Glenn, Mel. 2000. “Eddie Sabinsky” from Split Image. New York: HarperCollins.
- Greenfield. Eloise. 2006. “At the Library” from The Friendly Four. New York: HarperCollins.
- Grimes, Nikki. 1997. “At the Library” from It’s Raining Laughter. New York: Dial.
- Grimes, Nikki. 1998. “42nd Street Library” form Jazmin’s Notebook. New York: Dial.
- Gunning, Monica. 2004. “The Library” from America, My New Home. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
- Herrick, Steven. 2004. “Lord of the Lounge” from The Simple Gift. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Hopkins, Ellen. 2006. “See, the Library” from burned. New York: McElderry.
- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 2000. “Good Books, Good Times” from Good Books, Good Times! New York: HarperTrophy.
- Katz, Alan. 2001. “Give Me a Break” from Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs. New York: Scholastic.
- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2005. “Please Bury Me in the Library” and “Necessary Gardens” from Please Bury Me in the Library. San Diego, Harcourt.
- Lewis, J. Patrick. 1999. “Read… Think… Dream” from: The Bookworm's Feast: A Potluck of Poems. New York: Dial.
- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. “#66 The Hippopotabus,” “#174 The Librarian,” “#116 Library Fine,” and “#89 New York Public Library” from Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year. New York: Little, Brown.
- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. “Librarian” from The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse. New York: Simon & Schuster/Atheneum.
- Livingston, Myra Cohn. 1994. “Quiet” in Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. April Bubbles Chocolate; An ABC of Poetry. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Lottridge, Celia Barker. 2002. “Anna Marie’s Library Book and What Happened’ in Pearson, Deborah. Ed. When I Went to the Library. Toronto: Groundwood Books.
- McLoughland, Beverly. 1990. “Surprise” in Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 1990. Good Books, Good Times! New York: HarperTrophy.
- Medina, Jane. 1999. “The Library Card” from My Name is Jorge on Both Sides of the River: Poems. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
- Merriam, Eve. 1998. “Reach for a Book” in Rich, Mary Perrotta, Ed. 1998. Book Poems: Poems from National Children’s Book Week, 1959-1998. New York: Children’s Book Council.
- Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1998. “Because of Libraries We Can Say These Things” from Fuel. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions.
- Nye, Naomi Shihab. 2005. “The List” from A Maze Me; Poems for Girls. New York: Greenwillow.
- Prelutsky, Jack. 2006. “It’s Library Time” from What a Day It Was at School! New York: Greenwillow.
- Sidman, Joyce. “This Book” from: http://www.joycesidman.com/bookmark.html
- Silverstein, Shel. 1981. “Overdues” from A Light in the Attic. New York: HarperCollins.
- Soto, Gary. 1992. “Ode To My Library” from Neighborhood Odes. San Diego: Harcourt.
- Worth, Valerie. 1994. “Library” from All the Small Poems and Fourteen More. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
- Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. 2009. “Librarian” from Steady Hands: Poems About Work. New York: Clarion.
Based on: Vardell, Sylvia M. (2006). A place for poetry: Celebrating the library in poetry. Children and Libraries. 4, (2), 35-41 and Vardell, S. M. (2007). Everyday poetry: Celebrating Children’s Book Week with book-themed poetry. Book Links. 17, (2), 14-15.
Also look for the following poetry books:
- Rich, Mary Perrotta. Ed. 1998. Book Poems: Poems from National Children’s Book Week, 1959-1998. New York: Children’s Book Council.
- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 2004. Wonderful Words: Poems about Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 2011. I am the Book. Holiday House.
- Salas, Laura Purdie. 2011. BookSpeak!. Ill. by Josee Bisaillon. Clarion.
Jone is hosting our Poetry Friday gathering this week, so don't forget to check out those posts over at Check it Out!
6 Comments on Celebrating libraries and Dewey Decimal Day in December, last added: 12/29/2016
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I like the Library Mouse and the Library Lion, too. For that matter, I just like libraries.
We had this poem by Liz posted in our library. I'm not sure it's still there, but the librarians loved used it in their classes about how to use the library! Thanks for the list, too. There are many who make us appreciate those who ensure that books are available to all.
Wow! Fabulous post. You make me think and smile and love poetry every time I see your words. I hope I get to meet you some day. Consider yourself added to my bucket list ;)
Thank you so much for sharing my poem! I absolutely love libraries and librarians so I'm especially happy to have my Dewey Decimal Day poem in the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations.
Hooray for librarians! Here's a Laura Purdee Salas poem for librarians (found the link in her post today):
http://laurasalas.com/heart-of-a-teacher/
Hey, friends, thanks so much for stopping by to comment. I wish I could figure out how to reply to each individual comment, but let me say a special thanks to you, Liz, for your marvelous poem! Since I teach future librarians, it's very special to me. Plus, it's so great to share the library love with ALL of you-- and learn about more library-themed poems like Laura's. Thanks for that tip, Mary Lee! And Linda, I hope our paths cross SOON and we can finally meet! I'm a big fan of you and your work too!
Wishing you all the happiest of holidays!
Sylvia