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<p class="MsoNormal">Hello everyone, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Today’s shoutout is going to poet <a href="https://nikki-giovanni.com/">
Nikki Giovanni</a>, who passed away this week at 81. I’ve been listening to old interviews and re-reading her collected poems, remembering twenty years ago teaching some of them in my 9<sup>th</sup> grade classroom. Most of my kids weren’t that enthralled but
the ones who were – that was pretty awesome to see. I often, after tragedy, go back to her
<a href="https://www.archive.vtmag.vt.edu/memorial07/VTMagazinePDF/convocation.8.pdf">
poem from right after</a> the Virginia Tech 2007 shooting.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you’re not at all familiar with her work, the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/12/11/1218506687/nprs-book-of-the-day-remembering-nikki-giovanni">
NPR Book of The Day Podcast</a> has a great 12-minute clip from a 2013 conversation that beautifully captures the joy, delight, and forthrightness she expressed her whole life long. School Library Journal put up a
<a href="https://www.slj.com/story/newsfeatures/Celebrate-Nikki-Giovannis-Life-Her-Work?utm_campaign=SLJ%20Extra%20Helping&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_a4O9XsVVfvcx6ra7h91_Wd2sAwZNhLfTK3rbAau-4JdO98S2J4I7TAwF7VWSujvlUnRzERZfK2gs8HY9kOgQqA7g_bxB_mM2sTsiCvFPUVFYPQGQ&_hsmi=337939780&utm_content=337939780&utm_source=hs_email">
pretty great compilation of her works</a> for kids.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many of her poems are worth sharing. Yesterday Emily West, Early Lit librarian at North Plains, reminded me she’s also from Knoxville, Tennessee and
<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/160376/knoxville-tennessee">this is a good poem</a> for rainy cold winter days when you want to remember what summer feels like.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hope you have a little time out this weekend to recharge and maybe dig up a poem or song from one of your favorite poets or musicians, it’s a good thing to do on busy December days!
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Best,</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Greta</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Greta Bergquist, MLIS, MAT (she/her/hers)</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Youth Services Consultant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">State Library of Oregon<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><u><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;mso-ligatures:none"><a href="mailto:greta.bergquist@slo.oregon.gov"><span style="color:#0563C1">greta.bergquist@slo.oregon.gov</span></a></span></u><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">
| 971-375-3549<br>
<u><span style="color:#0563C1"><a href="http://www.oregon.gov/library"><span style="color:#0563C1">www.oregon.gov/library</span></a></span></u>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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