On February 3, the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers. The Pratt Library placed a bet with the San Francisco Public Library that the library in the losing city would have to stage a performance of a poem by a famous poet from the winning city while wearing the winning team's jersey.
In an excellent show of sportsmanship, San Francisco Public Library City Librarian Luis Herrera recited Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" in the SFPL atrium, wearing a Raven's jersey (#52 for Ray Lewis!). With each "Quoth the Raven," he was joined on stage by additional staff members chiming in, "Nevermore!" We love all the details: from everyone reading "The Raven" on purple
paper, a Raven stuffed toy, and even one member member wearing a Raven
tie.
Thank you to our friends and colleagues at San Francisco Public Library! We are all indeed winners with such proud literary traditions in both cities.
If the had Ravens lost, Pratt Library CEO Carla Hayden would have had to recite George Sterling's "The Cool, Grey City of Love" in the Central Library Main Hall wearing a 49ers jersey.
Watch the video of SFPL's reading on YouTube:
