Now @ MPL...

After a lifetime of trips to the Milwaukee County Zoo (first at Washington Park and now on Blue Mound Road), I doubted anything could ever refresh the experience for me. The onslaught of careening double-wide strollers, the 'signature fragrance' of the Small Mammals Building, overhearing parents trying to explain just what those two monkeys are doing, the possibility of a guano shower in the Aviary, the relentless white noise of a thousand excited children...ah, memories.

So it was a revelation to visit the Zoo with a friend to check out the poetry installed throughout the grounds by The Language of Conservation program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Milwaukee County Zoo and the Milwaukee Public Library with help from Poets House. With map and list of poem titles in hand, we embarked on a quest to seek out and savor selections from a menagerie of poets. There are poems etched on exhibit glass, hanging in trees, carved into stone or wood, on curving metal scrolls, or lettered on mobiles and banners. Like trying to spot a well camouflaged animal, the poetry will suddenly reveal itself to the attentive hunter. Standing silently amid the swirling throng and having a poem perfectly connect to creature or place is a revelation.

Alison Apotheker's "Why I Said Jellyfish", Michael Glaser's "The Presence of Trees" and Jorge Luis Borges' "The Other Tiger" were three favorites. To read the timeless words of May Swenson's Motherhood, then watch the baby orangutan Mahal cuddled in his adoptive mother's lap is delightful, even for someone as cynical as I. I know we missed finding some of the poems during our three hour visit, so we will definitely be planning another trip soon - by then I hope someone develops a GPS (Global Poetry Sensor)!

Submitted by Christine @ MPL Central

Join us at the Central Library for the dedication of the Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World Traveling Exhibition. Mordecai Lee, Professor of Governmental Affairs at UWM will make brief opening remarks and invite the audience to view the exhibit.The dedication will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, September 13th in Meeting Room One. This program is presented in connection with Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World on exhibit at the Central Library from September 8th to October 22nd, 2010.

Join a meeting of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research at the Central Library's Centennial Hall Loos Room on May 7 at 11:00 a.m. The meeting will be about the American Association of Milwaukee Brewers who played in Milwaukee from 1902 until 1952 at Borchert Field. Displays will include vintage uniforms, equipment, pennants and photos. There will be a panel discussion with Bob Buege, Dennis Pajot, Bill Topitzes, Bert Thiel and Johnny Logan.

For more information, call (414) 286-3011.

This summer enjoy the Summer of CHINA series at the Milwaukee Art Museum. This series exhibits three thousand years of Chinese art and culture in five exhibitions. It runs from June 11 - September 11, 2011.

One of the highlights is The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City. According to the Milwaukee Art Museum's website, "This exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Museum visitors to see over ninety objects of ceremony and leisure from the interiors and cultural artifacts within the Forbidden City's Qianlong Garden. The Museum is one of only three in the world to showcase these exquisite objects, hidden away for centuries, and never before seen by the public."

In collaboration with Blk-Art, History and Culture, Washington Park Library will continue the Black Cinema Film Series. These interesting, inspiring films are thoughtful explorations of the impact of motivated individuals upon history. Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change. A look back at 1965 and the unsung soldiers of the voting rights marches. Catholic nuns from across the country answered Martin Luther King's call to join the protests in Selma, Alabama. Hear their story and learn how the experience changed them forever.

Library: Washington Park
Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Time: 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Other Information:
The traveling exhibit, Sisters of Freedom, African American Women Moving Us Forward, will be on display for one day only at Washington Park Library on Wednesday, Oct. 24. The exhibit consists of several panels presenting women from the 1800s to today.

Organized by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man of All Time is a national traveling exhibition that has been made possible in part through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, dedicated to expanding American understanding of human experience and cultural heritage. The exhibit features seven panels that display text, photos and graphics about the 16th president. The exhibit begins by discussing Lincoln's early life in Kentucky and then continues through his time in Springfield, as president, his assassination and finally his legacy. The exhibit also has two displays specifically devoted to slavery and the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times will run from Nov. 12- Dec. 12.

Be sure to join us for a special program on Sunday, November 25th at 2 p.m!
Abraham Lincoln, presented by The West Side Soldiers Aid Society, Inc.
Central Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave.
No registration required.

Patricia Lynch, co-founder of the West Side Soldiers Aid Society, Inc. will speak about Milwaukee's connections to our 16th president. She is dance mistress of West Side Victorian Dancers, and author of Milwaukee's Soldiers Home. Learn about the threads connecting pioneering women and men to President Abraham Lincoln. Program begins in Mozart's Grove and then moves to Meeting Room I.