| |
For thirty years since 1972
The Burton Bradstock Library has been
Supplying books for readers young and old.
You'll find it opposite the village green
A former chapel, Wesleyan, where still
One wall proclaims Psalm 96 verse 9,
The staff expect you will read, mark, learn
And inwardly digest it line by line.
And on another wall, as you go in,
There right ahead you cannot fail to see
Depicted several village scenes and sites
In our unique Millennium tapestry.
On Monday March 13th '72
This building here came into four-day use
As library, in all ten hours a week.
Farewell the once fortnight bibliobus.
The first librarian was Olive Young.
Next: Sarah, Pat from Shipton, Mary Ward
(We'd often meet round by the shelves- that this
Was accidental you may rest assured)
Pat Wright came after Mary and maintained
The cheerful, friendly Burton atmosphere.
She loves to giggle and la vie francaise,
So pops across the Channel every year.
And now today it's Heather's who's in charge.
She takes our cheques when books are overdue,
Helps children with their projects, scans bar codes,
Is always calm, efficient, patient too.
Ensuring, as have all who've gone before,
That Burton Bradstock library is the best,
That anyone who comes in for a book
Will be delighted, satisfied, impressed.
There's fiction of all kinds to suit all tastes;
Adventure, westerns, chick-lit, Mills & Boon,
Those family sagas which go on and on,
Spy thrillers, Classic tales like 'Lorna Doone'
Short stories (special section - or should be)
Sci-fi and horror, mystery, suspense,
In large or small print, hard - or paperback,
On tape as well, thus adding sound to sense.
Along with Grisham, Irving, Fowles (three Johns)
You'll find Catherine Cookson (well not quite),
Plus Binchy, Steel & Co, or you could choose,
To curl up with Trollope for the night
Beside the Aga down at Barsetshire,
Then solve a crime with Christie, Rankin, James-
That's P.D., but if Henry's more your style,
You have the pick of all the famous names:
Charles Dickens, Thackeray, The Brontes, Scott,
George Elliot, Austen, Hardy, Flaubert, Proust,
Cervantes, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Mann-
Writers who rule the literary roost.
For those who love the realms of fantasy
There's Tolkien, Pratchett, Pullman, JKR,
Though Harry and the Hobbits can be met
With much less effort at the cinema
A few of course read poetry and for them
Are poems by Byron, Motion, Duffy, Keats,
John Betjeman, Lord Tennyson, Ted Hughes -
Just some of Burton's library's verbal treats
One slender volume stands on this shelf,
One which rates high on any cricket list,
And that's the Bride Vale 'Daborn Dossier'
Green-covered, out of print, not to be missed.
If you're a cook or gardener like me,
The library is a source of useful hints
From Delia, Gary, Jamie, Hugh and Rick,
Whose recipes for sea bass, pigeon, mince
Compete with illustrated tomes on how
To mulch, kill slugs, prune trees, prepare a lawn
By Charlie D and Alan - quite enough
To keep you read-(not weed-)ing until dawn
You may prefer to study history,
Especially that of World Wars I and II:
The Somme, Gallipoli and Passchendaele,
The Blitz, D-Day, the 'Bismark' and the Few.
Whatever - one thing there is no doubt,
These subjects are all covered, and what is more,
For Dorset lovers there's a groaning shelf
Of Wessex literature and local lore.
What else? A children's corner crammed with books,
A reference section, travellers' tales and guides,
D.I.Y. manuals, health and beauty tips,
True crime, biographies and much besides.
The Burton Library won't let you down,
And if what you require is not at hand,
You put an order in (it's sometimes free),
It won't take long, or so I understand.
Although you come to borrow, you can buy
A book or two as well, for there on sale
Are some for which the libraries have no room-
Each one a bargain, just pay on the nail!
And for a modest sum you now can hire
A video to while the hours away
At weekends when there's nothing on the box
And you have all the grandchildren to stay.
What brings us to the library week by week
Is first, the need to change our books, and then
To have a good gossip with our friends-
At times the word is mightier than the pen.
On library days beside the shelves we can
Discuss all village life: the pantomime
The parish council, W.I., the school....
There could not be a better place or time.
Once we had reader's tickets, made of card,
At first three each, with which (as advertised)
You could take out three books of any kind.
But nowadays we are computerised.
And soon encyclopaedias and such
Will be replaced by CD-ROMS and screens,
Though some of us booklovers may remain
Old-fashioned technodinosaur has-beens
While others choose to surf the internet,
Download, log on, boot up, e-mail, access,
Go online, enter chat rooms, we'll sit down
And read a book - no mouse, no strain, no stress.
For thirty years we've had our library,
A fact we celebrate today, the feast
Of Gregory the great, so raise your cups:
Here's to another thirty years at least.
|
|
