Exchange
“Carol’s either the best short-story teller or the best, short storyteller around—either way she has the timing to know the difference.” – Donald Davis, Storyteller/Author
AWARD: Storytelling World Gold Award, 2016
Ray Bradbury remarked he didn’t go to college; he went to the library! Here is one from yesteryear: rubber stamps mark due dates; wooden drawers hold catalog cards; and one woman alone can “man” a library. In his tender story, Bradbury captures the paradox of treasured books both enlarging our world and leading us home. When asked for permission to tell his story, Ray Bradbury wrote: Carol, Yes! Brava!
EXCHANGE is recorded here, as told by me, and most of it is just as Bradbury wrote it. Nonetheless, after forty years as a librarian, I would counter it is not books on the shelves, but books waiting to be shelved that overwhelm a library staff. And, the sound of children laughing remained a joy throughout my career; it was the sound of children shrieking that left me ragged.
Spirits abound in EXCHANGE, and this recording is dedicated to the spirit of Kate McClelland (1937-2009), friend and extraordinary librarian.
It is also dedicated to the children and families I was privileged to serve as children’s librarian at the Chappaqua Public Library. I will not forget the children of library colleagues, particularly Lee Ramsey and Catriona Cassali, nor dear families like the Benacks, Bergers, Indictors, Mendelsons and Vanchiswars. Yet, the full names of so many adored children are lost to me now. How I regret not seeing who you will become. But someday, maybe, we will meet and ask: Do you remember me? Remember?
EXCHANGE is recorded with the permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. © 1996 by Ray Bradbury.
“With story slams’ endless commentaries about personal lives, it is refreshing—and necessary—to have someone like Carol who knows we often understand ourselves and our world best through the universal mirror of great literature.” — Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi, Storyteller