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John Maruskin

What’s happening at the Library

The other day I noticed advertisements for companies that find and provide office space for people who want to work from home but find they cannot because of distractions. For a monthly fee, these companies will provide a space of your own or a shared space that can be anything from a table to your own cubicle. (No distractions in a hive of cubicles, right?)

I got a good laugh out of those advertisements. Why would anyone PAY for a quiet workspace when they can visit a library? Libraries have provided, promoted, encouraged, and facilitated quiet workspaces since the founding of the Library of Alexandria around 300 BC. It’s part of the mission.

Need a quiet place to work? Come to the Clark County Public Library. If your work demands a little quiet conversation through apps like Skype, Zoom, or Teams, that’s fine. Quiet conversation is part of library ambiance these days. If you need to have a screaming meeting, please use the Wi-Fi in the parking lot. You can connect to the Library’s Wi-Fi from anywhere in the parking lot. Have a lovely virtual picnic under the oaks on the front lawn.

The other great benefit of working in the Library is that you have access to ready information about any topic and…and…trained librarians who can help you access that information quickly. Internet search engines provide decent, standard results, but if you want to get the latest research about reflectance imaging spectroscopy or unravel an old family genealogical mystery, you want to talk to a reference librarian.

A library is its community’s study hall and workstation. Use it to your advantage. There’s a lot of inspiration resonating off the books in the Clark County Public Library.

Last week, the Library received a new book of poetry by local author, Elias Graves. The book is titled “This Breathing Ink.” Elias describes his book as “a collection of poetic works which reflect the condition of a relentless heart…a record of a voyage toward self awareness and the nothingness that is the pinnacle of consciousness,” The book is set with white type on black paper and is elaborately illustrated.

Librarian James Gardner, who has published a number of short stories in horror anthologies, and is an authority on Books from Beyond (the name of his book club) read “This Breathing Ink” and gave it two thumbs up

“This Breathing Ink” is available in the new non-fiction section. Call # 811 Grav.

Other current enterprises by Elias Graves include Devil’s Ink Comics, RedSaint Pixelwork, and Infernal Inks. You can find out about all of these projects at www.elias-graves.com.

The Clark County Public Library is committed to carrying works by local authors. If you have published a book, contact me at 859-744-5661, ext. 110, or john.clarkbooks@gmail.com.

Read. Think. Dream. Imagine. Write. Revise. Do it even better. That’s what the Library’s for. Enjoy it.