As a librarian, April has always been my favorite month.

The second full week of the month is National Library Week, which includes Library Workers Day (Tuesday) and National Bookmobile Day (Wednesday).

Then, the third full week of April is National Volunteer Week, during which we honor the multitude of library volunteers who help us with everything from shelving books to hosting receptions, holding book sales to helping with summer reading. We spend half the month celebrating our services and the people who help us deliver them – it’s a great time of year in the library world!

April is also National Poetry Month, which was established in 1996 to encourage poetry reading and writing, getting poetry into classrooms, and supporting living poets and their work. There are many ways to participate. For example, you could have a “Poem-a-Day” sent to your email address by signing up at

poets.org/poetsorg/poem-day. Or, you could participate in Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 26 and carry a favorite poem around to share with friends, coworkers or anyone else you meet.

Who wouldn’t enjoy hearing the beautiful words of Rumi, Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman in the middle of the afternoon?

When I was a school librarian, I loved teaching poetry units. My younger students giggled over the funny poems of Shel Silverstein and newer collections like “Once I Ate a Pie” by Patricia MacLachlan. My older kids learned to distinguish between limericks, haiku and iambic pentameter, and tried their hands at found poems and free verse. Often, however, the real value of teaching poetry was sharing how breaking some traditional rules (e.e. cummings didn’t use capital letters? Shocking! Poems don’t have to rhyme? No way!) could lead to powerful, passionate writing.

Poetry allows for extra layers of creativity and expression in writing that many find refreshing – as writers, and as readers.

For those of you who may not already be poetry readers, I encourage you to try a new poet or collection of poems during the month of April. Your local public libraries have more than 1,000 volumes of poetry for you to choose from – for free! Have a lengthy commute or a road trip planned? Try an audiobook of poetic works. Or, ask library staff for their recommendations, browse the shelves or download e-books of poetry from the Washington Anytime Library. If you’d like to try writing in verse, you could use our Lynda.com database to find instructional videos on writing song lyrics or combining poetry and photography for powerful storytelling.

This April, I’ve decided to read some of the works of our current U.S. poet laureate, Tracy K. Smith. She earned a Pulitzer in 2011 for her volume “Life on Mars,” and her newest work, “Wade in the Water,” is due out this month.

There are many local poets to explore, too, including Alice Derry and Kathryn Hunt, who will be reading and discussing their works at the Jefferson County Library on May 9. We are also excited to be coordinating the publication of a teen poetry anthology titled “Streams of Thought,” which will contain the works of Jefferson County teens.

The Port Townsend Public Library has some great programs this month as well, including an evening with poet Judith Adams on April 20. April is full of fabulous library events in our area!

For more information about programs and resources at the Jefferson County Library, visit our website at jclibrary.info and follow us on Facebook (“Jefferson County Library, Port Hadlock”). You’ll find more library events and information on the Port Townsend Public Library website at

ptpubliclibrary.org. And remember …

Poetic ardor

Springs up every April

All readers, rejoice!

Tamara Meredith is the director of the Jefferson County Library in Port Hadlock. She is a science fiction fan with a passion for all things STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math). In her free time, she likes to travel, play music and hang out with her family.

“Books and Beyond” is a monthly feature shared between the Port Townsend Public Library and the Jefferson County Library.