Today after the Young Literati meeting (the young friends group of the library) we saw this great bluegrass group outside at the St Louis Public Library’s Central Branch. The group is called “Folk’n Bluesgrass,” and they know how to have fun.
The Library’s concert series, called the “NOT SO QUIET! Concert Series,” is the first Monday of every month, and it is free.
It is officially announced by the Downtown St. Louis Partnership: Left Bank Books will be opening a second location across from our building this coming October. Left Bank Books is the only full-service independent bookseller left in St. Louis, and we’re thrilled that its second location will be so close.
(Yay for independent publishers and booksellers feeling the squeeze from folks like Borders—sincere kudos to Left Bank Books and the city for making this happen with an independent.)
Between the new bookstore and the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Express Branch on 815 Olive (next door to our building on the other side) we will have no excuse not to be well-read. Well, maybe we do have an excuse: a large minority of people in the U.S. did not read a single book of any kind last year, so at least we’d have lots of company, according to best-selling author and public intellectual Susan Jacoby in the Washington Post. (She works at the same place D.J. does, and if you want to hear them discussing these kinds of issues, check out Point of Inquiry for last week.)
It will be incredible if the second location of Left Bank Books has regular book-signings and author readings and book clubs and poetry. Downtown is so the place to live!
Tonight we went to an open bar reception at the St. Louis Public Library, a couple blocks from the Syndicate. It was catered by the wonderful Kitchen K. The library is beautiful, and like many other major libraries around the United States, grew out of Andrew Carnegie’s largess — a major gift in 1901. I was surprised to learn that the St. Louis Public Library was recently named the second highest ranked city library in the U.S., right behind the New York public library. And their speakers series leaves little to be desired (coming soon for instance: George Lakoff, the philosopher and political theorist, and I first saw political philosopher and social theorist Cornell West at this branch years ago).
We became members of the “Young Literati” society of the St. Louis Public Library, and while it is a little pretentiously named, the group has a great set of goals: “to enhance the life and vitality of the Library by supporting its programs and by building relationships with others in the community who share a passion for the Library’s work.” Other similar groups exist in Los Angeles and D.C. We decided we’re going to join the board of the Society, and help out in any way we can.
After the reception, we went downstairs to a fantastic concert by St. Louis Brazilian band Samba Bom, and they played some music straight out of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Aside from the seemingly mandatory Samba dance lessons after the band finished their set, it was all a great blast. And I guess you could say being forced to dance when both of us have the rhythm and grace of two octogenarian quadriplegics was actually kind of fun, too.
The first Monday of every month, the St. Louis Public Library is continuing its free concerts at the downtown Central branch. In July, they have a bluegrass band. We’ll see you there. And if you want to get involved with the Young Literati society, call Liz Reeves at 314-340-2403.
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