At The Jefferson Market Library

By CORINNE NEARY

THE INTERACTIVE ADVICE DOOR at Jefferson Market. Photo courtesy of Jefferson Market Library.

Visitors to the Jefferson Market Library know that our lobby, renovated a few years ago to allow a ramp entrance off of 10th Street, contains a door to nowhere. One of the building’s original interior doors, dating back to our courthouse days, is on display below a small stained glass window. From time to time, we use this door for interactive projects, involving a question, a whole lot of sticky notes, some markers, and most importantly, our patrons! 

Last October, we posed the question, “What scares you?” and this month, as we get ready for the return of students and summer vacationers, we are asking “What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?” As you can see from the photo, we’ve gotten a lot of advice from our neighbors. Here are just a few. Maybe some of them can be of use to you? 

  • Keep writing.
  • If a person is not going my way, they are in my way! 
  • Don’t trust everything your teachers say!
  • Be kind to all animals.
  • Never complain, never explain.
  • Make art with your friends! 
  • Remember, you will die! 
  • It’s only a thought – let it go! 
  • Mixed signals is probably a “no”
  • Adopt a cat.
  • Don’t set yourself on fire to keep another person warm.
  • Futbol is life!
  • Do not ever get a Tarot card reading – it’s a scam.
  • Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear.
  • The silence is an answer. 
  • Not everyone should have access to you.
  • Say yes!
  • Learn something OLD every day! 
  • You can never have too many books.

What were you so worried about? If this local wisdom is inspiring you to start something new this fall, we have a couple of programs that will definitely help. Mondays at 1 pm, starting September 29, we will begin a ten week discussion of Dante’s Inferno, translated by Stanley Lombardo. Registration begins September 15, and will be done in person only, so please stop by our second floor desk to sign up, and get your copy of the book. 

Starting Tuesday, September 30, you’ll be able to register for a four session course led by NYU’s Charles Zerner, which will be held Tuesdays at 3 pm starting October 14. This Jefferson Market University course, called New Nature: Rivers are Persons and Other Realities delves into the stories and images of the American wilderness that have inspired poets, landscape painters, and gardeners since the 17th century. Discussion sessions draw on environmental humanities and natural sciences, including botany, lichenology, and fisheries.  The goal is to explore recent understandings of the natural world and human relationships to it.

As always, please check our website for all of our program listings, including film screenings, book discussions, performances, and children’s happenings.