{"id":55352,"date":"2022-11-16T14:26:40","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T14:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/?p=55352"},"modified":"2022-12-07T14:48:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T14:48:47","slug":"good-books-the-personal-librarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2022\/11\/16\/good-books-the-personal-librarian\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Books: The Personal Librarian"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_image=”37942″ css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”150px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”grid” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3\/5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1668608213888{padding-top: 15px !important;padding-right: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;padding-left: 15px !important;background-color: rgba(24,41,87,0.8) !important;*background-color: rgb(24,41,87) !important;}”]<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”150px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”35px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]When asked to recommend a great book to alumni, Diane Boni \u201984 responded with The Personal Librarian<\/em> by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. The Alumni Book Club recently featured this historical novel, and Boni facilitated an online discussion about it.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/12″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1652455562427{padding-left: 25px !important;}”]<\/i>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”11\/12″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1668608413784{padding-right: 25px !important;}”] The book is compelling, and it prompted me to read Heidi Ardizzone\u2019s An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene\u2019s Journey from Prejudice to Privilege<\/em>, a non-fiction account of the same story. I found that while some of the conversations between the main characters were certainly imagined in the novel, they do seem to be grounded in existing correspondence. The real Belle actually burned most of these correspondences to preserve her secret. I recommend both books\u2014they prompt important conversations about racism, equity, and opportunity.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”10px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”grid” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” background_color=”#ffc70a” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/5″][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_single_image image=”55442″ alignment=”right” mkd_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”4\/5″][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]Boni was an English major at the University who spent 13 years as the director of English language arts (ELA), social studies, and libraries at the Greece Central School District, in a suburb of Rochester, N.Y. She is a member of the University\u2019s Lifelong Learning Advisory Council, as well as Warner School\u2019s National Council and its CUES (Center for Urban Education Success) Advisory Council. Boni is also a docent at the Memorial Art Gallery and an active participant in the Alumni Book Club.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Looking for more good books? <\/strong>Join the University\u2019s Virtual Alumni Book Club<\/a> and peruse our Alumni Bookshelf<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”5px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1669645976768{border-top-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;border-top-color: #999999 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”]This story originally appeared in the fall 2022 issue of the <\/em>Buzz<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014 Kristine Kappel Thompson, November 2022<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When asked to recommend a great book to alumni, Diane Boni \u201984 responded with The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. The Alumni Book Club recently featured this historical novel, and Boni facilitated an online discussion about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":37992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[272,902,722],"class_list":["post-55352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-alumni","tag-just-for-fun","tag-rochester"],"yoast_head":"\n
The Personal Librarian<\/em> is about Belle da Costa Greene who had worked at the Princeton University Library and was hired by J.P. Morgan in the early 1900s to catalogue his great collection of manuscripts. The main character has a secret that she must hide at all costs. She was actually born as Belle Marion Greener, a Black woman who hides her racial identity in order to thrive in a world that otherwise would not have accepted her. <\/span><\/p>\n